Adorable Curse
by Alannada
Summary: [Complete] Once upon a time there was a handsome prince cursed in the most horrific way. Would a simple, yet fair miko save the prince? True love kisses, spelled artifacts and much more awaits Inuyasha crew in this story.
1. The Curse

Adorable Curse  
Summary: Once upon a time there was a handsome prince cursed in the most horrific way. Would a simple, yet fair miko save the prince? True love kisses, spelled artifacts and much more awaits Inuyasha crew in this story.

A/N: Look, I posted the first chapter which you already know if you read Barks. Still, I highly recommend giving your love and speculate about this story here too :D  
This story will not be very long, but I can't promise that chapters will appear shortly one after another. Still, will do my best to post them asap.

o0o

Kagome climbed off the well to find herself in the middle of a beautiful meadow, all green, full of flowers and sunshine. It was a pretty sunny day in Feudal Japan while it was raining in her home time.

To her surprise and mild disappointement there was no dog-eared boy waiting for her. But it was not that bad because a fox-tailed boy was there to greet her.

"Kagome!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're here! You don't believe what happened!"

Kagome dropped her bag and hugged Shippou as soon as she stood on the solid ground.

"Hi, Shippou. What happened? Where's eyeveryone?"

"They're under the Sacred Tree," Shippou said and Kagome went that way, leaving her bag for now where it was resting on the ground. "Inuyasha got himself cursed," Shippou added with a wide, malicious grin. Kagome started to run in direction of the ancient tree, fear gripping her heart while Shippou was holding onto her shirt to stay on her shoulder.

Soon she was on the meadow where she had met Inuyasha. To her surprise Miroku and Sango were sitting on the edge of the glade, observing calmly what was happening under the Sacred Tree. They didn't look worried at all what made Kagome pause.

"Is Inuyasha alright?" she asked the pair while Shippou left her shoulder to sit beside Kirara. "Is the curse broken already?"

"No, it isn't, dear Kagome," said Miroku and covered his mouth with his right hand.

"And don't worry, Inuyasha is alright... Mostly," added Sango and... Grinned. Then she pointed to the old tree. "He's behind the Tree of Ages, you should go and see him now," Kagome crined when she saw a twinkle in her eyes, but she didn't waste time, she went to see Inuyasha. Why they were so calm, merry even? Their friend was in trouble and they were sitting and smiling like...

Kagome gasped when she went around the tree. Inuyasha was sitting on a fat root, hiding his face in his clawed hands, looking defeated and tense. Around him was a wide circle of puppies, kittens, roe deers and all other small and adorable animals - all trying to get close and be as cute as possible while making happy noises. A flower crown was upon his head, covering his droopy ears and butterflies were flying around in the sunlight.

"I-Inuyasha?" Kagome breathed out. The hanyou lifted his head and to her surprise she saw cherry blossoms fall from somewhere above them - when she glanced up she saw dozens of birds flying and dropping flowers on the half youkai. Others were just sitting on tree limbs and singing.

"Kagome!" he exclaimed and jumped to his feet, bunnies falling from his lap. Then he leapt to stand before her, grab her hands and look deep, deep in her eyes. The flower crown slid to the side to hand on one of his ears and a robin sat on his shoulder. "Help me!"


	2. What Exactly Happened?

What Exactly Happened?

A/N: Yaay! Look, I got an another fic to procrastinate! Let's see how the fairy tale no one asked for unfolds!

o0o

"Help me!"

The plea was full of desperate hope, of suffering and confusion. Emotions hidden in those two little words were so not like Inuyasha that Kagome wasted a few seconds just staring at the hanyou. Then she realized that the words themselves were something unique - Inuyasha wasn't exactly one to ask for help in any situation.

Yet there he was, holding her hands, his intense yellow eyes fixed on her face with bold hope shining in them. Kagome licked her lips and felt something fall around her neck.

To her utter surprise a couple of colorful birds came to place a flower necklace over her head to rest on her shoulder. A similar one adorned Inuyasha's form just a moment later. Kagome was staring at the hanyou as a pair of squirrels jumped off the Sacred Tree's branch above him to place a crown of leaves and berries between his dog ears.

Inuyasha's gaze never wavered from her face.

"What happened, Inu-" Kagome started.

"You two look adorable together," the miko turned her head to look at Sango. Their friends finally came to their side, stepping around and over all Inuyasha's furry and feathery friends. The hanyou was just standing, still holding her hands and refusing to open his mouth.

"We went to a certain place where it was rumored a youkai was terrorizing a village," Miroku explained and leant on his staff. "We thought it could have a jewel shard."

"It didn't have," said Shippou and grinned when a few bigger birds came to drape a red cape over Kagome\s shoulders, Four squirrels climbed up clothes deftly and pinned the cape with long needles. Kagome just blinked at the fauna adorning her with yet another thing.

"It was a five-tailed kitsume." said Sango. "Pretty old and probably almost bored to death. It came from the east and we were about to ask it to tone down its pranks when..."

"Let me guess, Inuyasha charged on it with Tessaiga, huh?" Kagome raised a brow.

"Yeah," all three of them nodded. Inuyasha tried to growl, but it seemed the curse didn't het him make his signature noise. So he set on expressing his emotions in a different way.

Startled humans and two youkai were staring at their hanyou friend singing that he was just trying to do the right thing, follow the path of his destiny and help others. All the animals around him joined in, humming or chirping the melody of his heartbreaking confession when he went on with his story, telling Kagome and everyone else who wanted to listen how he battled the kitsune and got himself cursed.

Then, as the final notes of his song full of cheesy rhymes Inuyasha dropped Kagome's hands and sank to his knees in an adorable way to hid his face in his hands and let out a sigh which was bordering a sob.

"I-Inuyasha?" breathed Kagome, stunned and imressed by the singing voice of her hanyou friend and secret love interest. It was not really beautiful, but it was pleasant to listen to. All she got was:

"Make it stop, make it stop!  
Can't bear this shit anymore  
Make it stop, make it stop...!"


	3. The Miko Godmother

The Miko Goodmother

A/N: I'm planning on keeping the chapters relatively short, but in return will try to post them faster than I post my other stuff.  
And - as always - the more feedback the faster I post stuff.

o0o

Kagome wasted a long minute just staring at her kneeling friend and his furry companions trying to cheer him up. A robin sat on his shoulder, holding a small flower in its beak. Inuyasha's droopy ears and sad eyes made the young miko's heart ache - the hanyou wasn't a person who would randomly sing and plaed for help in such an adorable, yet desperate way.

"And he's like this since yesterday," said Sango after a moment of silence, stunned by his performance herself. "We don't know how to break the curse yet."

"The fox said we'll be seeing him," Miroku added as he leaned on his staff. "Maybe he would lift the curse himself if we apologize and explain our friend is a reckless idiot."

"Oi!" Inuyasha barked and glared at the monk. A rabbit jumped on his knee and nuzzled his hand to get some attention and petting. Inuyasha looked down at him with surprise on his face. Rabbits were supposed to run away from a predator like him. The world was going nuts around him in matter of hours. When he was looking at Kagome a few birds adorned her hair with flowers. In his opinion she was the one who should be surrounded by cute stuff, not him.

"Maybe now when you're are here, Kagome, we could drag him to see Kaede." Sango voiced her hope. "He refused to leave the forest."

Kagome saw the hanyou nod and wasn't surprised by that. The hordes of adorable animals worshipping him and throwing flowers under his feet as he was walking wasn't something he'd like people to see. It would totally ruin his tough guy image.

"I don't wanna go to the village," Inuyasha looked up at them with a pout, Kagome smiled at him and adjusted his crown.

"We know," she assured him. "But you know Kaede can know a way to help you and we need to break the curse as soon as possible. Even if I kinda like the cute way you look," she teased. The hanyou blushed and leand away from her hand. Kagome got her own flowe crown soon after that.

Miroku and Sango let her convince their friend to do as they wanted, they even made Shippou stay silent and not tease him, but it still took her a lot of time to reach his logical side. Deep down he knew that the old miko was a skilled priestess and could find a cure for his situation. Still he refused to just walk in the village and let people see the doves fly above his head and bunnies follow his steps. The gang had to wait until it was dark before moving from the forest and making their way to the old miko's house.

To Kagome's surprise Kaede didn't comment the escort the group had, not even when a deer came to stand beside them, a few squirrels sitting on its back as the deer started to nibble at her cabbages. She just spared a glance at them all.

"Inuyasha, it's good to finally see ye," she said as she moved to the side to let the hanyou in. Kagome realized that Miroku and Sango had to tell her about their problem.

"Keh!" Inuyasha said as he entered the shadowy hut.

"Ye should wait here when I examine him," the priestess said to the gang. Shippou sighed, unhappy that he would miss the examination which would probably be really funny. They spent a few minutes trying to make the wild animals leave Kaede's vegetables in peace until they heard a loud cry of surprise. Kagome rushed inside, followed closely by Sango.

They found Inuyasha sitting in a corner, a scowl on his face, two mouses putting a cup of tea before him as he was staring at the other side of the room. Kaede was standing there, looking down at herself. Her general look was the same, but now her miko robes had a blue color and she was sporting a blue hat adorned with forget-me-nots and a pair of transparent blue fairy wings were fluttering behind her back as she was hovering a few centimeters above the floor. She turned her eye at the newcomers.

"It seems the curse is contagious," the old miko said as she tapped her cheek with a star-topped wand she was holding in her right hand.


	4. The Hut On A Chicken's Leg

The Hut On A Chicken's Leg

A/N:I totally remember about Forest Spirit, just be patient with me.  
And about this fic - I have next 10 chapters outlined, but I'm open for suggestions of motifs and stuff. Still, I can't promise I'll follow all of them, only those which are aligned with the general direction of this story. If I get excited about an idea which wouldn't fit this fic I may make a Barks chapter with it.

o0o

Kagome was sitting beside Inuyasha, Kaede on his other side. The old miko was trying to control fits of sweet chuckles coming over her at random times, usually after speaking. Glitteering dust was falling from her wings when she was moving thm so she tried to fold them securely and stay on the ground Meanwhile Inuyasha was staring at a host of ants dancing in front of him while adding bits of sugar to his tea. Kagome herself couldn't stop staring at them. Kagome moved her cape behind her to sit more comfortably - the length of fabric was a little troublesome, but removing it would just cause a few animals to put it back on her.

On the other side of the fire pit Miroku, Sango and Shippou were sitting close to each other, eyeing the trio suspiciously and with a hint (in Shippou's case more than a hint) of amusement.

"So... You say that whoever touches him gets fairytale-d?" Sango flinched when a mouse danced past her with a carrot for the stew her kin was creating in a pot in a corner of the hut. The term 'fairytaile-d' was Kagome's creation, she had told them that all the cute animals acting weird and other things were just like from a fairytale from her time. It didn't make sense that the five-tailed kitsune knew tales from Kagome's time, but Sango was blaming their bad luck for this.

"It sure looks that way," Kagome nodded. Kaede took a deep breath after giggling merrily.

"Ye did not touch Inuyasha while young Kagome and I did," she stated. "And here we are, hihihi... Changed by the curse, hahaha."

Kagome rested heer hand on Inuyasha's knee and arned a glare from him. The hanyou flinched when she patted him.

"Don't worry, I'm already cursed," she said to calm him down. What more could happen to her? She already haad a red cape, a flower crown, a necklace of blossoms and her own cup of tea provided by a talented three mice.

"Keh!" he replied and stuffed his hands in his sleeves - that is after removing a bunch of flowers stuffed there by unknown animals. He threw the flowers in the fire with a scowl.

"For now it will be best if no one beside us touches you, Inuyasha," said Kaede.

"It is the best tactic," Miroku nodded as he was resting his chin on his palm. We can't predict the natureof changes the curse can make in a person."

"That means you can't touch him too, Shippou." Sango deftly caught the kitsune who started to move closer to the cursed hanyou with mishief twinkling in his eyes. "If you disobey..."

"No chocolate for two months," Kagome finished for her.

"Awww," Shippou sighed unhappily but nodded that he understood. He had to stay away from Iniuasha. Slowly the whole thing was much less funny - he was already forbidden of teasing the half dog youkai, now he couldn't see what would happen to him. He knew a few tales from Kagome's time and they seemed fun. He'd definetely like to be like the Robin Hood fox kicking butts or playing tricks like the blue wish-granting ghost from the tale about a thief boy and a magical lamp.

"Don't worry, I ain't going to walk around like that so no chance of people touching me," the hanyou said, his yellow eyes focused on Shippou retreating to his old place beside Miroku.

"At least you don't sing right now," Shippou muttered and smirked when he saw Inuyasha's ears lower. Would Kagome and Sango be annoyed and keep chocolate goodness away from him if it was Inuyasha's fault? He could definetely make the hanyou hit him and he'd get his wish granted without them knowing it was his plan. He just had to plot a trick so wicked Inuyasha would forget about his curse and not hesitate to deliver a blow to his head. What was a little lump on his head compared to some awesome powers? Kaede aleready had magical powers, the curse just enhanced her natural talent. Who knew how great his tricks would become under the influence of the curse of a fellow fox?

"Okay, but I think we should focus on how to break the curse now, when we know we shouldn't touch Inuyasha," Kagome said, causing the hanyou to look at Kaede.

"Take it off of me, old ha- Can you, please, help me, granny Kaede?" Inuyasha almost choked on his own words, shocked at the pleading, soft tone of his voice. Miroku and Sango snickered at that and he growled at them, but his growl was not threatening enough to scare them to be silent. Kaede gave a smile.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, I'm afraif it's beyond my power and knowledge," she said. The hanyou cursed and sighrd in relief - the fits of gentle, polite speech were coming and going, just like Kaede's giggles. "Yet I'll aid ye in yer search of the cure."

"Thank you, Kaede," Kagome smiled warmly at the old priestess, still amused at Inuyasha calling her granny.

"We all will help you, my friend," added Miroku as he lowered his hand to pet Kirara's back. The two-tailed cat purred and got more comfortable in his lap. "Together we can find a way to undo the spell in no time at aĺl and you'll be free from the cute stuff around you."

"Ah, how I long to be free!" the inu hanyou cried in despair and then groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "Fuck this shit!"

"We can start by tracking down the fox." Sango suggested. Kagome nodded and looked at everyone, patting the knee of her hanyou friend and secret love.

"We should move out at dawn," Miroku stood up and went to look outside to see how late it was. He stepped through the doorway and... Disappeared with a short cry and a loud thud. Everyone ran to the door in alarm to find the monk face first in the dirt beyond the treshold of Kaede's hut... Good two feet under the level of the dirt floor inside. Inuyasha cursed quietly and jumped off the house to look at it from outside.

"Great. Old hag, your house had a chicken foot now," he said as he offered his hand to help Miroku stand up.

A/N: Will he? Won't he? You can influence fate today! You can vote if Miroku should let Inu help him up. You have only 24 h, after this time I'll count the votes and work on the next chapter


	5. The Abduction

The Abduction

A/N: Oh, goodness, you had no mercy for poor Miroku! Let's see what the curse will do to our favourite monk who already had a cursed hand.

o0o

Kagome was standing in the doorway of Kaede's hut, looking down where Miroku was sprawled out on the dirt. The hanyou looked at the space between her feet and the ground before giving a cocky smirk and stating that the building had a chicken leg. And then, as a gentleman he didn't want to admit he was, he offered his hand to the monk who was more like a brother to him than his real brother was to help him up. Miroku looked behind his back to see the anomaly while reaching out his cursed hand to grap Inuyasha's wrist and stand up..

"No!" Sango cried and jumped from beside Kagome, Kirata jumping from her shoulder. Before Kagome could do more than outstretch her own hand in their direction the slayer fell on the male part of their group with a loud "Ooof!" and they all fell to the ground.

The young miko cried out in fear and shock when a wave of energy enveloped her friends. She was about to jump off the house and run to their rescue when Kaede's hand gripped her elbow.

"Don't, Kagome!" she exclaimed and turned her heaad to look down, Kagome bit her lip and followed her gaze. After a second she jumped down to approach them.

Inuyasha was laying across the path, silver hair fanned out around his head in the most beautiful way when he was shaking his head to clear it after hitting the ground. Across of his red-clad form was Miroku, black and purple robes wrapped tightly around his body as he was laying face down in a pose Kagome was used to see Inuyasha in after subduing him

On top of them both was Sango, also face down, her nose pressed agains the middle of Inuyasha's chest. Golden eyes glarred at the woman when she finally raised her head.

"Oi! Get off!" he barked. A worried roe deer sniffled his hair. "Get away!"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha..." Sango lifted herself on her hands and knees over the grunting monk. "I just wan-"

Inuyasha's - suddenly wide - eyes remained trained on the place her eyes were just a moment ago. Needless to say they were a bit higher now. Sango looked at herself.

"Aaaa! Pervert!" she shouted and a hand clad in a white glove with glittering stars hit his jaw with enough force to threw his head to the side and produce a grunt of pain from the hanyou. Miroku chuckled and started to get up, so the slayer quickly jumped to her feet, still looking down at herself.

Kagome wasted a second to admire her female friend. Sango was clad in an outfit similar to her school uniform - a fitting white top with a green skirt barely covering her rear. Sheer green socks were reaching just under her knees, adorned with lace and green ribbons on the front. Deliccately looking shoes adorning her feet were decorated with bows too. Her white gloves were reaching past her elbows. The neckline of her outfit was quite revealing. A huge bow sat on her chest, it was green and had a glittering golden star in the middle of it. Her ponytail was adorned with a big ribbon as well and she had a silver tiara on her forehead.

"I'll punish you...!" Sango fumed while glaring daggers at Inuyasha.

"...In the name of the Moon..." Kagome finished automatically and gained her attention. Sango let out a little gasp amd then everyone looked at Miroku, who finally got to his feet, still chuckling. Inuyasha stood up as well, rubbing his jaw while he took a few steps back to see holy man of the team.

"Fuck," he uttered and spared a glance at the girls. Sango squeaked and grabbed Kagome's cape to cover her mostly bare legs from the view before the perverted youth in black could see them.

"So, Inuyasha? How is he? Miroku? Are you okay?" Kagome asked and looked between them both. Inuyasha shrugged and Miroku finally turned around.

A raccoon dog smiled at everyone. He had Miroku's eyes and his ears were sticking out from his hair. The expression of his fur-covered face was amusement and smugness.

"You look lovely, dearest Sango," he said, his eyes roaming up and down her form. The slayer cried out in embaressment and grabbed Kaede's broom laying on the ground near the place the hut would stand. "Very well, indded," Miroku said with a wide grin, his eyes glued to the hem of her short skirt. Realization what everyone had had to see when she had bent for her weapon dawned ona the poor girl and she let out a battle cry.

Inuyasha, a wise hanyou as he was, leapt back and away from the monk just to make sure he was clear from Sango's striking range when she went to kill the man. To be extra sure he stopped only when he reached the endge of the road.

"D-dear Sango, don't be rash!" Miroku, a wise tanuki he apparently was, decided to fleee in direction of Kaede's carrot rows. "I meant nothing perverted!" Sango growled as she jumped above a startled bunny in pursuit of her tanuki prey.

"Can I touch Inuyasha now, Kagome?" asked Shippou as he jumped on Kagome's shoulder. Both miko looked at the kitsune. "Everyone already did."

"I don't think that's a good..." Kagome trailed off when she saw a big chariot pulled by four white horses stop beside the path to Kaede's house, just behind Inuyasha, who was looking at Sango trying to kill her fiancee between cabbages. "Wha-"

The door of the carriage opened when Inuyasha noticed it and turne his head in that direction, a mild scowl on his face.

The smell fo roses filled the air, heavy and sweet. Inuyasha cursed and swayed, stumbling back. He reached his hand to cover his nose and mouth with his sleeve. Kagome was running to his side when two men jumped off the carriage and caught the hanyou before he fell to the ground.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, but she was too late. The men jumped inside with the half dog youkai and the carriage moved away. The tips of Kagome's fingers brushed against the wood of the door before it was pulled away from her.

"Inuyasha! she shouted running after the carriage, Sango and Miroku suddenly joining her side. Yet they had no chance to catch up with the unknown men who abduted the dizzy hanyou. Tears filled Kagome's eyes when she ran, unwilling to give up and calling his name.

For the first time ever Inuuasha didn't call her back, didn't come to her.

A/N: Oh, no, Inuyasha's abducted! What Kagome and co will do to get him back? Who did kidnap him and why?  
Remember to leave an opinion - I post new chapters faster when I get more reviews, y'know. 


	6. The L(o-a)st Prince

The L(o/a)st Prince

A/N: Look, I updated faster than usual! Now I'll try to work on FS.

o0o

A pair of green eyes was following the carriage practically reeking of roses as it disappeared in the forest. Then the eyes looked to three humans running after it in futile effort to stop the kidnappers.

"Inuyasha!" cried a feminine voice full of distress.

A tail flickered. A second tail flickered. A third tail flickere, A fourth tail flickered. A fifth tail flickered. 'It looks like your bond with the hanyou is strongest, little miko,' the observer thought. 'Good.'

A small smile appeared as all the tails moved behind the observer's form.

o0o

Kagome collapsed to the dirt when the carriage disappeared. A sob left her mouth.

"Kirara!" she heard Sango's voice and the roar of the cat springing to action followed the call.

"Lady Kagome, can I help you up?" Miroku laid his concerned hand on her... Butt. Kagome snarled at him - tears running down her cheeks ruining the expression, but the hand was removed.

"We must follow them!" she wiped her eyes with new determination, willing herself to stay calm and stop panting and sobbing. She had to save Inuyasha, there was no time to sit in dirt and cry.

As Kagome stood up a shadow appeared beside her - Kaede landed in a rain of glitter and looked at the girl with compassion. All the cute animals and birds follwing Inuyasha left when he was captured and Kagome didn't even notice.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Sango and Kirara will catch them," she assured the girl. Miroku nodded his agreement, his gaze serious.

"I'm confident we will see them any second now," he said and indeed the cat flew from the forest to land in front of the group. Sango was sitting on Kirara's back, a man in dark clothes hanging from the big cat like a bag of potatoes.

"I'm sorry," the slayer sighed and bowed her head. "I could't stop them," she admitted with shame and then patted the man's back. "But I caught this guy, we can ask him where they're taking Inuyasha and why..." she looked at Kagome's face. "We'll get him back," she assured her friend upon seeing Kagome bitting her lower lip.

"Dear Sango, you are a valiant warrior and a beautiful friend," commentted Miroku, his eyes trying not to stare at her bare knee. The slayer glared at him for a second before throwing the man off Kirara's back and jumpig off her comapnion to kick his side - not very hard, but the man grunted in pain. Miroku focused his sight on the male.

"You heard us! Tell us what you want from Inuyasha!" she demanded. Kagome nodded in agreement, her gaze locked at the man's confused and scared face. He didn't look like a bandit type of a man, more like a simple guy caught in a situation he didn't know how to deal with.

"We're meaning prince Inuyasha no harm!" he exclaimed and clutched his stomach, curling in a ball as if afraid Sango would kick him again. The slayer didn't move, there was no need to hurt him more if he was willing to talk.

"Prince Inuyasha?" Kagome breathed out and looked at Kaede who frowned. "That's... Can it be the curse?"

"It's... They had had no contact with Inuyasha before," the old miko said and covered her mouth to soothe her giggles. Her wings twitched as she tried to understand what was going on. "That makes no sense, unless there is a side-spell to this curse."

"There probably is," Shippou nodded. "Five-tailed foxes are really skilled with magic. The more tails the stronger kitsune."

"So, friend," Miroku crouched beside the man with a friendly expression on his face. "You say you mean our friend Inuyasha no harm, yet you kidnapped him. Why?"

"W-we didn't kidnap him!" the man shook his head.

"You obviously didn't ask him to join you in this carriage, you dragged him inside," Kagome rested her hands on her hips. "So? What is your deal? Where are you taking him? And why?"

The man sat up and looked at everyone, visibly trying to find right words before he spoke.

"We were sent by Inoue family to bring prince Inuyasha home!" he said, trying to sound proud and calm in face of a tanuki, a winged miko, a kitsune and two oddly and improperly clad beautiful girls. And a cat.

"H-home?" Kagome uttered. The man nodded with vigor, relaxing a little.

"Yes! He's the only son of princess Izayoi and after the tragic death of all five sons of lord Akira, who's dead as well, there was no one to become the heir of Inoue house. Our scholars went to a long labor to find the closest relative alive to the dearly departed lord and it turned out that prince Inuyasha is the only one who can be our new lord, He would be lord Akira's great grand uncle or something like this," he gave a shrug. "The council decided to overlook his mixed blood because he's of age and can be maarried to the heir of Hojou family, princess Sakura, what would help us gain their wealth," he explained. Miroku tilted his head.

"You're telling us Inuyasha will be a lord now?" Miroku asked in bewilderment. Kagome swallowed.

"Yes! Please, don't let the half-naked wench hit me again!" he pleaded as he looked back at Sango, who blushed and clenched her fists. "We just followed orders!"

"You didn't ask for his consent," Kagome said after she fought back her shock, the man blinked at her in surprise.

"Who wouldn't like to be a lord, rule a great land, marry a princess?" he asked. "A half breed would never get a chance like this if not for the great bad luck the Inuoe family suffered through the past two years. Almost all died in a tragic way. Some drowned with their ships, some were killed by youkai, some spelled or simply murdered... It's surprising that prince Inuyasha was unharmed when we found him and now we will make sure he will stay safe and within the palace, at last until he produces heirs."

Kagome swallowed, realizing that the kidnappers not only wanted to push her friend to perform duties he would probably hate, but also marry against his will and stay away from the wildness he loved so much.

'Wait a moment - prince Inuyasha?' Kagome turned to Kaede.

"It's definetely the curse," she said. "We must get him back and break it before it goes too far."

"Aye, child," Kaede nodded. "I shall give you a swift horse to carry you to Inuyasha." She reached into her sleeve and took out of it a sleeping mouse. She poked it with her wand and suddenly the mouse was no more - a tall white steed was standing beside Kagome. The young miko grabbed its reins and looked at it in concern.

"I don't know how to ride a horse," she confessed and bit her bottom lip. Kaede gave a nod and poked her shoulder with her wand. Kagome suddenly foound herself juming on the saddle on the horse's back. "And I don't know the right way," she continued, looking at the old woman with hope in her eyes. The old miko turned her eyes to the man sitting on the ground. A wave of her wand and he was changd in a lantern glowing with soft yellow light - but only in the direction of the forest.

"The lantern will show ye the way. And when ye reach the palace it will change back," Kaede explained upon seeing their surprised faces. "Do ye need anything else?"

"My bow," Kagome said as she attached the lamp to the saddle - there was no fire burning in it so she wouldn't hurt the horse. Shippou turned around to fetch Kagome's bow and arrows, but then froze.

"Ki-kitsune!" he pointed to the roof of Kaede's hut where a five-tailed fox was sitting, gazing at them. Sango instantly called Kirara and flew in that direction, Miroku following her fast on the ground.

"We will catch him, you fetch Inuyasha!" he called to Kagome as the five-tailed fox jumped off the roof and dashed away.

"Go with them," Kagome said to Shippou as she took a bow and a quiver Kaede provided with her magic, along with her bagpack - it seemed that beside transforming stuff the miko could also summon objects. "We will be back soon."

"But, Kagome!" Shippou exclaimed as she turned her horse to face the forest. "You can't go alone!"

"I'm rescuing a princess, I'll be totally fine, no matter what!" Kagome assured him and pushed the horse onward. "I'll bring him back!"

A moment passed and Kaede was alone, the gang of friends split to follow different paths. The miko godmother sighed and went to see if her hut had laid eggs. She would expect nothing less after witnessing all the craziness of this night.


	7. The Escape

The Escape

A/N: The delay in publishing this chapter was sponsored by gedit - I had the whole thing written when it decided to die on me and not save a word so I had to write it again.

o0o

A soft breeze went through the garden surrounding the compound belonging to Inoue family. It rustled in leaves of countless cherry trees, caressed the petals of hundreds of roses and threw some stray hair in Kagome's face when she was standing in the shade of the building in front of her. It had been pretty easy to get inside the walls encircling the palace. During her travel here Kagome had been thinking about everything what had happened since her return to feudal era and she had a hypothesis to confirm. She looked around the desolated garden basked in soft sunlight.

'Okay, here goes nothing...' the time-travelling miko took a deep breath.

"Oh, princess, oh princess, let down your hair!" she exclaimed dramatically pressing a hand against her chest.

"Who the hell do you call a princess?!" came an immediate reply.

'Bingo!' Kagome grinned up at Inuyasha. She was standing under a three stores tall tower - the only higher structure in the palace. It had drawn her attention before she even had entered the gate. "Hey, Inuyasha!"

"...Keh!" suddenly something red dangled in front of her face, Kagome's gaze travelled up to find a length of crimson fabric with a loop on one end. On the other end was her favourite hanyou, leaning over the window sill. "Get on, I'll pull ya in! Hurry, before someone notices you! There are guards patrolling the grounds!"

Kagome put her foot in the loop and gripped the makeshift rope before the hanyou pulled her off the ground. 'What it is, I wonder...' she thought. 'Too rough for a sheet or a blanket...' Suddenly a strong hand gripped her arm and Kagome found herself standing on a tatami mat, facing the room.

It was filled with expensive furniture, Kagome's gaze drifted across a low table, bookshelves, a futon with a bundle of colorful fabric on it, a mirror reflecting a part of the window and a bookshelf... She was about to turn around and face her friend when his hands fell on her shoulders and his voice rang close to her ear.

"Don't. I need to put my obi back on," he murmured. Kagome's cheeks turned pink in an instant and she squeezed her eyes closed just to make sure she wouldn't see something she shouldn't. After a minute Inuyasha sighed and Kagome heard his soft footsteps going around her, so she knew it was safe to look.

And here it was - her hanyou friend in all his glory. He was still clad in his fire rat, but there were some changes to his look. His skin was pale as if he felt a little nauseous (with the thick scent of roses surrounding the whole area it was no wonder). Someone had brushed his hair smooth, taming his unruly mane. Inuyasha ran his hands through his hair and destroyed that look while scowling. To Kagome's surprise his claws were cut short. The young miko smiled at the hanyou and hugged him tightly.

"I was so worried!" she exclaimed, still holding the startled boy around his chest. After a moment of hesitation Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her loosely.

"They put sutras around the room to keep me here. They want me to be their lord and marry a stupid princess," he confessed.

"I know," Kagome nodded.

"But I don't wanna. They were so horrible to mother and hated me up until now," he continued quietly. "And suddenly they're all crazy about me being a prince. I ain't one! And I sure as hell ain't gonna marry a dumb princess!" he added harshly and glared at the doorway as if there was someone he hated. Kagome wondered if there really was someone guarding the only exit of the room.

"I know. And that's is why I am here," Kagome smiled up at him. "I came to rescue you, Inuyasha."

"Keh!" he snorted and looked from the door to the window. "So... Where's the rest?"

"They went to catch the five tailed fox, he appeared when you got captured and I went after you," she let go of him and started to walk around the room to take care of the sutras. She located the first slip of paper and tore it off a wall. "And how was your day? I noticed you did something with your hair..." she asked in a casual tone. Inuyasha grumbled something under his breath and went to the futon to pick up the bundle of cloth. He unfolded it and showed Kagome an expensive looking kimono in deep green with roses all over it.

"They want me to wear this piece of shit," he complained. Kagome chuckled.

"You'd look lovely!" she teased. Inuyasha growled and tore the robe to pieces. The young miko found two more sutras and threw them on the table. To her relief Inuyasha took a deep breath and gave a nod, indicating that there was nothing holding him locked in the chamber anymore. Together they went to the window, Kagome climbed on Inuyasha's back and the hanyou jumped off the room to land three stores lower in the grass.

He ran a few paces before they heard a cry from above.

"Hurry! Prince Inuyasha's gone! Catch him!" cried someone from the window of the room they had escaped just a minute ago. Inuyasha growled and picked up his pace, not looking back and jumping above rose bushes.

They left the walls of the palace grounds and slid in the forest around it while hearing a group of people running after them, screaming about seeing them and demanding them to stop and wait to be captured. Inuyasha just snorted while Kagome looked back to see a bunch of guards with pikes or other long weapons following their path. It was hard to hide in a forest in the middle of the day while clad in red and white.

Suddenly the pair ran out of the trees and entered a wide meadow. They were halfway through it when Inuyasha stumbled over a rock hidden in tall grass and fell on his face with a small cry of surprise and pain.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome quickly rolled off the hanyou, looking at him in concern. Inuyasha sat up while holding his leg.

"I think I sprained my ankle," he confessed and lifted his eyes to look at Kagome when she groaned. "What?"

The guards ran out of the forest and started to look around, trying to find their tracks, acting as if they couldn't see the pair sitting in plain sight. The runaways gazed at each other in surprise, but aside of it remained quiet and motionless. The guards ran past them and disappeared in the forest on the other side of the meadow.

"Huh?" Kagome blinked.

Suddenly a gust of cold air went through the meadow and Inuyasha turned his head to his left. A group of people was leaving the shado of the forest, but the eyes of the pair focused on the woman in front of the group.

"Kikyou!" he exclaimed and promptly fainted.

A/N: I know some of you probably wanted more of Izayoi's family, but don't worry, they may appear later. I'd love to write a fic with Inu and his mom's family one day, make a full blown description of their relationships and stuff, but this fic is not about this, so well. I may make a bonus chapter about Inu's stay in the palace if someone's interested. If I get creative you'll get a chapter about Miroku and Sango's hunt for the fox.


	8. True Love's Kiss

True Love's Kiss

o0o

Kagome was kneeling in the grass, holding Inuyasha's hand and waiting to the group to approach her. She felt nervous and unsure of the near future - as always while facing Kikyou. And now Inuyasha was unconscious... She looked down at him - small wild animals were adorning his hair with little flowers and looking at her expectantly.

The time-travelling miko looked up to see Kikyou stop near her. Miroku, Sango and Shippou moved around her and knelt beside Kagome. Shippou was leaning against Kirara's side, deep in thought.

"What happened?" asked Sango while tugging her short skirt down to cover as much of her legs as possible.

"He sprained his ankle and then fainted. The guards chasing us went past us," Kagome said shortly.

"I put a barrier around you so they couldn't see you," Kikyou spoke and approached them, kneeling beside Kagome. She was observing Inuyasha's serene expression. "He looks so peaceful... I've never seen such serene look on his face."

Kagome smiled softly - it was a rare image, but she had been privy to see it a few times before. Usually while Inuyasha was sleeping on her bed.

"Did you catch the fox?" she asked. The tanuki shook his head.

"Sadly... He managed to escape," he replied. "But we met lady Kikyou and told her about Inuyasha's curse."

"If there is anything I can do to aid you I shall do it, I swear," the undead miko stated softly. Kagome gave a small nod and felt a flower crown fall on her head. She spared a glance up to see a flock of birds flying in circles above her head. She sighed - since their first meeting Kikyou went from desiring Inuyasha and her dead to being a calm person appearing from time to time and drawing Inuyasha away for a couple of hours. It was a relief she was not actively trying to drag Inuyasha to hell with her. Still... Kagome brushed her thumb against the back of his hand before letting it fall to the hanyou's side. She looked at the group kneeling around him.

"I think I know how the curse works," she announced. Silence reigned in the circle around Inuyasha's unmoving form. All eyes turned her way as she took a deep breath. She introduced to them the concept of Disney princess and fairytales of her time in general, pointing out things from Inuyasha's curse which were following motifs of some of the stories. She went through friendly fuzzy animals, flower crowns, being locked in a tower and other things. Then she went on to point things not related to Disney princesses like the hut on a chicken leg and the forced lordship - they were related to fairytales in general. Then she looked at the youkai slayer. In her exposing outfit adorned with ribbons she would be out of place in all fairytales Kagome could thing of.

"But you, Sango, seem to be a magical girl, which is a motif not from a fairytale. It's usually a manga and thing... Girls like this are popular in stories of my time, as much as pretty princesses - they fight evil demons and protect humanity while keeping their identities a secret. The most popular is Sailor Moon who used to throw her tiara..."

"Ah, loveliest Sango did that once and her tiara changed in Hiraiktsu!" Miroku exclaimed happily. Sango blushed at the excitement in his voice."And me? What character of a fairytale am I?"

"You, Miroku," Kagome smiled faintly. "Are a pervy tanuki, that's obvious. I think the curse changes people while following their strongest traits."

"I see..." he rubbed his chin. "So... How are curses broken in those tales?"

Everyone looked down at the hanuyou on the grass. While they were talking various little animals were cvering him with colorfyl flowers and leaves as if trying to create a floral blanket. A family of rabbits were sprvled out on his bare feet, keeping them warm even if there was no need for it.

"Yes, there are a few ways to break curses..." Kagome's heart suddenly clenched as the realization hit her. There had to be a reason Miroku and Sango had met Kikyou and had brought her here. There were no coincidences in fairytales. "And I think I know how to break this one."

"What must we do?" Kikyou asked while looking at her reincarnaion. The girl was gnawing at her lower lip and looking at Inuyasha with melancholy Kikyou had never seen in her eyes before.

"A true love's kiss," Kagome muttered and gazed at the other miko before she spoke a little louder, so the rest could hear her. "You must kiss him."

A/N: dun dun dun!


	9. Chasing the Fox

Chasing the Fox

o0o

Miroku ran past Kaede's hut - he caught a sight of a round woodden thing bigger than any treasure chest he had ever seen roll from under the house and rest in a small hole in the ground. He blinked once at that sight, but had no time to dwell on this matter.

There was a fox to catch and a half naked girl on a battle cat to admire.

"Miroku!" Shippou jumped on his shoulder, tiny claaws digging in Miroku's robe. "Why are you running? You're not gonna to catch up with them!:

"And what do you suggest?" Miroku panted out, leaving the village behind. The little fox was right - both the five-tailed fox and Kirara were moving in a straight line while he had to run around huts and sheds, then follow causeways.

"You're an idiot. Transform!" Shippou said and suddenly he was gone from Miroku's shoulder, changed in the pink floating thing Kagom was calling a balloon. The young monk needed a second to realize why Shippou was advising him to do that - he was of Hachiemon's kin now!

"Oh, you're right, but how do I do that?" Miroku ran past a few kids playing on the road. They looked at him once, but it seemed that village folk was used to more bizzarre stuff than a tanuki and a kitsune running down a road and discussing, following a transformed Kirara chasing after an another fox youkai. With Inuyasha and his friends fighting various youkai and arguing on almost a daily basis Miroku wasn't too surprised their tollerancce to odd was much higher than averge humans.

"Just use a leaf, focus reallly hard on a shape and use your youki!" Shippou advised and floated away to join Sango far in front of the running monk. His message was clear - Miroku had to find it in himself to transform by himself. Itt was not too different from Miroku's master ways of learning - to give advices but let a pupil to find wisdom by himself.

First Miroku needed a leaf. It was pretty easy - he snatched one from a bush growing near the path he was following. Then came the hard part - he had to focus and use youki while still running. He considered stopping for a moment but didn't want to lose his friends. He just dared to slow down a little while concentrating on a shape - since his eyes were trained on Shippou he as using his round shape as a guide. He pressed the leaf to his forehead - just like Shippou had done just a few minutes ago. Youki was much different from spiritual powers, but to his surprise wielding youki came to him quite... Naturally.

In a poof of violet smoke his humanoid form disappeared and a purple balloon floated happily in the sky, made a few spins and then followed the flying cat and the pink balloon.

It took a few minutes to catch up to them, but Miroku was very determined. Shippou gave him a nod of appreciation. Sango spared him a glance before looking back to the ground where the orange fox was running through Inuyasha's forest.

"Stop!" Sango called out again. "We just want to talk!"

The fox looked back at them and all three of them heard him chuckling.

"Sorry, warrior maiden," he replied, dashing between trees. "You chase, I run!"

"We just want to talk!"

While Sango was trying to coax the five-taled fox to stop and listen Miroku and Shippou went to encircle him from both sides. When the fox entered a small glade a tanuki landed on his feet in front of him, a little fox sat on a lone boulder to his left and Kirara right behind his back. Sango took a place to his right, closing the circle. The fox sat on the ground and smiled,

"Aren't you fast," he said. Then all his tails flickered. "So you caught me, you can ask me three things and I shall answer truthfully. One question for each one of you." He fanned out behind himself three of his tails.

"Can you take the spell of Inuyasha, please? We know he acted harshly, but he was just concerned about well-being of people under his protection," Miroku said. "I think he learned his lesson and will think before running at people with his sword," he added hopefully. One of the lifted tail lowered to the grass.

"I can't," the fox replied, a smile on his mouth. "I wouldn't even if I could. The hanyou has to learn his place and never again challenge someone who has more tails than him when he can't defeat them. The spell cannot be removed by me. Next question?"

"I suspected that," Miroku sighed and rubbed a paw against his nuzzle. This was a high-ranking kitsune, probably of Sesshomaru's level, no wonder he found it proper to teach the brash hanyou some humility.

"Um..." Sango asked next, tugging at the hem of her skirt. "How can we lift or break the curse from Inuyasha and ourselves?" she looked at the fox with hope in her eyes.

"You can't," the fox lowered his second tail. "You will be free once the hanyou is freed, but none of you possess the ability to free him."

Two foxed looked at each other. Shippou's eyes were full of wonder, of admiration, of excitement. The older fox dropped his last tail.

"No, I cannot teach you this spell," he stood up. "Yet. Well, that looks like the moment of our parting..."

Before any of them could do anything he flickered all his tails and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind a stone statue of a cow. Shippou pouted but still looked awed. Kirara jumped through the smoke and landed on the cow, sniffing it and growling in displeasure upon not finding any clue how to follow the other youkai.

"Well, at least we got some things confirmed," Miroku stood beside Sango and casually reached under her skirt. The girl yelped and jumped to the side, taking off her tiara from her head.

"Hiraikotsu!" she shouted and threw the object at the retreating tanuki. She stared after her weapon changing into a huge boomerang and continuing after Miroku between the trees where it stopped, embedding itself in an old tree.

"Wow," Shippou said as he jumped on Kirara's back. Miroku returned after a minute, eyeing the boomerang warily on his way back to the clearing.

"Did I hear correctly? Is Inuyasha spelled?" asked a cool, monotone voice. The whole group stopped staring at Hiraikotsu and turned to see Kikyou walking from the treeline near them. "I shall assist you, in any way possible."

A/N: OK, so this chapter isn't really as funny as I hoped it'd be. And it's up like 10 years after it should be published, but I had a few bad days. 


	10. Cursing Spree

Cursing Spree

A/N: I wanted to post a chapter with the part of the story where Inu was in the palace before Kagome came but had no idea for it, so you must wait for it. For now - let's see the plot go on.

o0o

"You must kiss him."

The four little words caused everything to froze. Sango looked at Kagome with wide eyes, forgetting about her short attire and Miroku's gaze glued to her thighs - she had nothing to worry right now, because the tanuki in monk's robes was staring at Kagome as well. Shippou gasped as this little sentence brought him back to reality from the land of daydreaming about himself being cursed as well. Kirara tilted her head and mewled her surprise.

Kikyou's soul collections stopped their eerie dance as the undead miko's gaze, always so distant and calm, rested on her incarnation. Kagome felt her anxiety rise under this scrunity. She didn't want them to look at her right now.

"You want me... To do that?" Kikyou asked softly, motionless like a statue of a perfect miko. Kagome nodded and stood up to walk to her bag, discarded in the tall grass.

"This is the usual way curses are broken," she explained and started to rummage through her things, her back to them all, not really looking for anything, just trying to look busy and nonchalant. "You know - a princess gets a curse, a prince comes, they have some adventures, have troubles because of the curse and then fall in love. And they kiss and the curse is broken, they marry and live happily... Ever after," she finished her summary in a flat tone.

"M-marry?" Kikyou breathed out, looking down at the hanyou sprawled out before her.

"Kagome..." Sango said in a tone indicating she wanted to argue. The slayer stood up and walked to the time-travelling miko. She looked puzzled when she saw her friend smile at her. "I don't..."

"You wanted to marry him, no?" Kagome asked Kikyou. "And you fell in love at first sight. Trust me, this works this way in fairytales."

"But..." Kikyou turned her head to look at her, her hands clenching on the fabric of her hakama. Kagome took a deep breath and faced her.

"You can figure out how to make him all human later. You promised to help," Kagome reminded her, keeping her bright smile on all the time. Miroku tilted his head while resting his palms on his knees, Sango knelt beside Kagome who was spraking in fast words, unwilling to let anyone cut in, unwilling to think about what she was doing. "He loves you."

"...Oh, right," the undead miko's unblinking gaze lingered on her reincarnation for a minute longer before she turned back to Inuyasha and leaned in. Kagome turned her head away when she did so and found herself in Sango's embrace. She knew it would free Inuyasha and that they shared a special connection, but that didn't mean she wanted to watch.

Kikyou leaned in and took a deep breath. The idea of kissing Inuyasha was not repulsive, but the miko really would like him to be human. She had heard about his youkai self and to be honest the idea that a half of him was a bloodthirsty murderer without morals was a little... Discouraging. She hoped her reincarnation was really alright with this when she had looked at her a moment ago the melancholy was just a tint in her eyes, her smile bright and her words demanding her to follow her advice.

Her cool lips brushed against warm mouth of the hanyou, pressing gently as her eyes fluttered shut. It was a shy, timid kiss, soft and almost devoided of passion. It was so awkward to kiss a man in front of so many people.

Beforre she could fully assume her previous position Inuyasha opend his eyes - his intense, yellow gaze focusing on her face.

"Inuyasha," she said softly.

"K-Kikyou? What are you doing here? Where's Kagome?" he asked and sat up, his eyes searching for her reincarnation.

"Kagome asked me to break your curse." The undead miko replied simply, sighing inwardly when she saw his eyes lit up when his gaze rested on her reincarnation. 'Once those eyes were full of light for me. When did they lose that spark?' Kagome didn't move, held in a loose embrac by Sango, who was staring at the other members of their group.

"Hm," said Miroku and looked at his hands which were still covered in fur. "Lady Kagome, how long after the kiss..."

"Sango, can I borrow Kirara?" Kagome asked and as the slayer nodded she freed herself from her embrace and went to the feline, now in her transformed form.

"Wait a minute! Where do you think you're going, wench?!" Inuyasha jumped to his feet, ignoring both spiritual power wielders still kneeling close to him. The hanyou leapt from his spot to snatch the girl from Kirara's back, but he was too late - the cat was already in the air. All he managed to grab was Kagome's shoe, which easily slid off her sock-covered foot. He landed on the ground beside Shippou, holding the shoe in his hand. "Kagome! Come back!"

He could smell salt on the air. With a low growl he turned to face his friends.

"Better start talking," he demanded. All he wanted was to follow the schoolgirl, but he had to know what had happened first - he knew where she was headed and was pretty sure he could outrun Kirara. His eyes rested on Kikyou, who stood from the ground and tried to appear calm. He woudn't be fooled - he could see how anxious she was by the nervous twitching of her glitter-covered, transparent pink wings.

Five minutes later he was running through the forest, fast like an arrow from a miko's bow. He felt a misture of emotions he didn't want anyone to witness and a part of him - the logical, more mature part of him - hoped that the fast run would help him cool before reaching the well and tacking Kagome to the ground to yell at her stupidity. He knew he left his friends behind with Kikyou looking and acting like Kaede's twin (only younger, still dead and with pink coloring). He was growling while running and leaping from tree to tree from time to time. He wanted to grab his petite miko and shake her until she'd finally realize what he was feeling for her. 'That idiot! And she made her kiss me! And that other idiot, she was supposed to be the smart great miko! And I've already told her how creepy it is to kiss someone without consent!'

"Kukuku, Inuyasha, you seem to be quite distracted," laughed a person standing in the center of a meadow Inuyasha entered. He was wearing a white pelt covering his body and a monkey mask to hide his face. "This will be your downfall..."

Inuyasha didn't even stop - he just slashed at that person with his claws while passing by him, - he felt his claws tearing through the fluffy pelt and then the body underneath, but he didn't look back to see what damage he had done. It was just a puppet, a waste of his time while he was busy chasing his ('stupid, stupid, stupid') miko.

No one except a bunch of colorful birds following the hanyou, saw the glow enveloping the falling puppet.

"Holy shit!" Inuyasha cried out when he enterd another meadow. This one was occupied by Sesshomaru and his followers. When Inuyasha stepped on Jaken he lost his balance and stumbled forward. Only a fast action from the daiyoukai saved Rin from being squished under a hanyou - Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha's wrist and threw him over his head.

Inuyasha, cursing colorfully in front a little kid, landed on his feet a few paces away from the trio. Rin looked at the kappa on the ground and then at Inuyasha.

"Master Inuyasha, are you alright?" she asked and hurried to his side. She grabbed his hand and that was the only reason the hanyou didn't continue to run in the direction of the well. Instead he looked, his eyes wide, at the three more victims of his curse disappear in soft light.


	11. Red, Silver, Black

**Red, Silver, Black**

* * *

A/N: The full title - His Robes Red Like Blood, His Hair Silver Like Snow, His Eyebrows Black Like Coal

o0o

"Master Inuyasha, are you alright?" she asked and hurried to his side. She grabbed his hand and that was the only reason the hanyou didn't continue to run in the direction of the well. Instead he looked, his eyes wide, at the three more victims of his curse disappear in soft light.

He really considered staying and explaining everything to his half-brother and his companions. He felt sorry for Rin that his curse was changing her and prayed the change wouldn't be too bad. He was pretty glad Sesshomaru was cursed now - even if he had not planned to touch the bastard - and hoped he'd change dramatically. No thought about Jaken's fate crossed his mind.

But he had no time to spare for them, he had to chase the two tailed cat and the miko. He was still gripping her shoe in his claws - a solid reminder of his quest. But... He decided to stay just for a second longer and see how the curse would influence the trio before him. He was fast, he told himself, he could easily catch up to Kirara and tell Kagome all he wanted to tell her. Right now he was in the right mood to grab her shoulders and shake her while making sure she understood he didn't love Kikyou anymore and that kissing without consent someone who couldn't say 'no' was just creepy. And then he would put the shoe on her foot and drag her back to their friends so they could hunt the five-tailed soon-to-be pelt. As he was standing there a few birds caught up to him and sat on his shoulders and head, chirping happily.

Rin was the first one to emerge from the light, blinking in surprise. Inuyasha let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was in her normal shape. Only her clothes were now a beautifully ornamented kimono of the finest silk and she had a little crown on her head.

Next was Jaken. He was clad in a beautiful kimono of pale pink with golden clouds on it. He had also long eyelashes and curly golden mane of hair falling down to his waist. Inuyasha stared at the kappa in utter shock, forgetting about chasing after Kagome for a minute.

"Master Jaken, you look pretty!"

"Foolish morral, I am prettier than you!" he exclaimed before looking down at his - obviously feminine - robe. "And I am a man!" he cried. Inuyasha gave a small grin at that statement.

"Ya don't look like one. And ya're ugly as hell," he commented. "Rin, your kimono's prettier than his."

"Thank you, master Inuyasha," Rin gave him a wide, happy smile. A compliment from her lord's half-brother was a rare thing, usually he was nice, but not to the point of giving compliments to her. She hoped her lord would like her kimono too, eve if she didn't understand why it was this way and why Jaken was trying to pull his golden locks off. "Master Jaken, don't pull your hair!"

"Off with his head!" all three of them looked to the spot where Sesshomaru was standing. He was glaring at Inuyasha and Jaken. The curse had hit him hard - his clothes were altered in a rather drastic way. The kimono was still white, but it had a pattern of red hearts accatered across it. The mokomoko on his shoulder was glittering and his hair was comed in a intricate hairstyle full of heart-shaped crimson ornamets. And... Was it make up on his face...?

Inuyasha was glad he had decided to stay and see. Witnessing his brother looking like that was worth a few minutes of delay. He grinned a vile youkai smile before turning around and continuing on his way. He could deal with his brother later. It would be fun to have him walk around dressed like that. He could still hear Sesshomaru's voice as he ran.

"Off with his head, Jaken!" demanded Sesshomaru. "Follow him and cut his head off! And bring me Tessaiga as a proof! Only then shall I be the strongest of them all!"

"Butbutbut! Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken screamed in fear. "He is too strong for me!"

"Go, master Jaken, I believe in you!" cheered Rin. "Lord Sesshomaru, do you like my kimono? Master Inuyasha said it's pretty!"

A/N: I had a lot of fun writing this one. Hope you like it. Oh, yes, I almost forgot - since there are fairytales which will overlap some characters have more than one role and it not always is that a character will always be a bad guy only cuz they are in one tale.


	12. Inuyasha and the Seven Zombies

**Inuyasha and the Seven Zombies**

* * *

Inuyasha's smirk faded just as he reached the distance when he couldn't hear his brother's demands and Jaken's shrieks. He found an old road through the forest, going in the direction he was headed in, so he decided to stick to it.

Suddenly the trail left the forest to cross a wide meadow - one of many meadows in the forest. But there was a house in this one, a simple hut, but it was much bigger than usual forest cottages. Inuyasha slowed down when he saw it, surprised because he didn't remeber seeing it here before. As he approached a man in pink yukata emerged from behind the hut, holding a big bag. He spotted Inuyasha and waved excitedly.

"Guys! Guys, it's Inuyasha!" he called to people who were behind the hut. The hanyou's ears twitched in surprise - he wasn't so well-known by folks in this parts to be recognized. Even if he was looking quite unique with his hair and ears, not mentioning his red robe.

"Oi!" he decided to investigate. "From where you know my name?" As he approached the man he saw six more humans come to view. Well, one looked like a spawn of an oni, but Inuyasha didn't smell any youkai or hanyou around.

All seven males smelled of graveyard. And one of the, a guy with black hair braided in a long plait, was carrying Naraku's scent. Instantly Inuyasha growled.

"You came to us before we could come to you!" exclaimed the guy with Naraku's scent. "Great!"

"Who are you? You reek of death and Naraku!" Inuyasha asked, standing in a batle stance and reaching for Tessaiga. Then he froze. Since the curse had been placed he hadn't used his sword. Cold sweat ran down his back when he thought what could happen to his precious fang. 'But if it's a part of me it's already cursed,' he thought, gripping the hilt firmly.

"We're the Seven Mercenaries," introduced a bald man with odd weapon in his hands. "We collect gold."

"And we'll collect a lot of it from lord Naraku after delivering you," finished the one with the braid.

"Big brother, can I go first? I want to pet his ears!" asked the man in pink yukata, the guy with the braid shrugged.

"Go for it, just don't cut him much," he said, but before he could finish the sentence the excited man was already approaching the hanyou and a dozen of wild animals surrounding him. Inuyasha drew Tessaiga and sighed in relief when he saw it was not different than usual. The six men watched Inuyasha and their companion fight, curse (Inuyasha) and giggle (their friend) for a few minutes. Then the man with a black braid reached in his robe to fetch a small mask. His friends followed his lead and covered their mouth and noses. "Mukotsu, you can use your anti-dog stink bomb now."

Mukotsu chuckled darkly and ran to the hut to bring a red, round pot. He threw it right at Inuyasha, who was ducking a zig-zagging blade and trying to get close enough to his opponent to slice him to pieces. The round object hit the ground a mere meter from Inuyasha's feet and broke with a loud crack. A cloud of dark green smoke surrounded the hanyou.

"Inuyasha?" asked his opponent worriedly and jumped a few paces back to stay away from the smoke. He glared at the short man who had thrown the jar. "Hey!"

"Do0n't worry, Jakotsu," the man with the braid gestured for the rest of his friends to move closer. The hanyou coughed a few times and then they heard a loud thud. Ginkotsu and Kyokotsu brought a box made of special transparent substance and Renkotsu with Suikotsu went in the cloud of smoke to carry the unconscious hanyou to put him in it. Renkotsu placed a few ofudas on the transparent lid of the box under Bankotsu's watchful eye. "When we bring him to Naraku he may let you play with the hanyou more," he said to his best friend. Jakotsu just smiled as he looked at the box being lifted from the ground by Ginkotsu and Kyokotsu.

"I'd like that," he said and folded his sword. It was time to set off to Naraku's castle.

A few minutes later it became painfully obvious that the two strongest men of their band couldn't carry the box because after being swallowed by strange light their bodies shrank to be around a meter tall and grew beards. Similar fate befell Suikotsu and Renkotsu. The bald mercenary was complaining loudly about his beard trailing behind him and causing him to trip over it. After a moment of thinking Bankotsu assigned them along with Mukotsu to help carry the box, leaving only Jakotsu and himself to protect their precious, dizzy cargo who had still to wake up.

A bunch of roe deers, bunnies and other wild animals were following them through the forest, relucant to leave the hanyou's side.

Tessaiga remained behind, an old, rusty katana hidden in long grass near a small hut in a meadow in the forest.

A/N: Oh no, Inuyasha's captured (again)! Who will save him now, when Kagome's back home? Will Kagome come back to the past now? Will Inuyasha be Naraku's prisoner now? And - the most important question - will Kaede's hut lay a golden egg?


	13. Meanwhile

**Meanwhile**... 

* * *

A/N: Feel free to suggest a better title for this chapter.

* * *

Inuyasha woke up to a merry song sung by six people who had no idea what a chorus was and how it should work. It was like waking up in music hell.

"Hey-ho, hey-ho! Merry-merry dol!"

He frowned. 'Did Kikyou do good on her old threat and dragged me to hell when I wasn't paying attention?' He cracked his eyes open, fully prepared to see hell-ish decor and Kikyou chilling out on a blanket nearby, listening to the ungodly cacophony of the terrible song.

"Hey, guys, he's awake!" Inuyasha flinched when a guy jumped on top of him. The hanyou couldn't move away, but luckily something was preventing the guy in a pink yukata to reach him. It was like a barrier or one of the glass windows from Kagome's time. As soon as the guy crashed against it the song ceased and the hanyou felt the whole world around him crash against something. Inuyasha growled inwardly, hating that he couldn't move, that all he could do was blink and make faces.

"Jakotsu!" complained someone. "He's heavy as it is, you don't get to add your weight to the weight of the box! Get off so we can pick the box!"

"Oh, hush, Renkotsu, enjoy your break while I enjoy Inuyasha," Jakotsu waved a hand. Inuyasha cringed when the mercenary looked down at him from the place he was sitting above his chest. "Don't worry, puppy eared cutie, when Naraku's done with you we'll play, promise."

"It looks like he doesn't like this idea," chuckled someone. Inuyasha couldn't agree more.

"Oh, every one of them doesn't agree with the idea at first," Jakotsu grinned at someone above Inuyasha's head.

"Okay, guys, stop fooling around. We need to get him to Naraku," said a voice and Inuyasha recognized it was the Black Braid. "Jakotsu, get down. And don't touch the ofudas sealing the box and rendering him motionless. We don't need the hanyou to get too... Active.:

"Okay, big brother," to Inuyasha's relief the guy slid off the box, but not before placing a kiss to the glass above his head. The hanyou winced. And then...

"Hey-ho, hey-ho! Merry-merry dol...!"

'Yup, I'm in hell.'

o0o

A girl on a flying cat reached an old, dry well. She jumped off her feline steed before looking behind herself and sighing. She closed her eyes and stretched her senses but found no youki approaching from the direction she had came from.

"So he is really not coming," she whispered. A part of her had hoped - daydreamed - that a certain hanyou would follow her and tell her she had everything wrong, that he loved her and kissed her breath away.

But that was a thing from a fairy tale, right?

In real world he was probably glad she had left, that she had asked Kikyou to kiss him and confirm who was his destined true and only love. That he didn't have to face her and tell her that he liked her just as a friend. She stroked Kirara's head when the cat rubbed her hip with her nose.

"Thanks for bringing me here," she said softly. "I'll go now. I have to study for my tests.."

The cat looked up at her and gave a small feline noise of sympathy.

"I'll be back... Eventually," Kagome promised before hugging the cat and jumping down the well. She didn't notice a bunch of wild animals approaching the well with crazy amounts of flowers and leaves. She didn't see a huge owl flying from the direction of Kaede's village with a brand new crimson red cape for her. As the spell took the miko five centuries in the future the red cape fell to the bottom of the well, gold dogs embroided on it glistering in rays of sunlight before it disappeared in the shadows of the well.

o0o

Rin was standing on Ah-Un's back so she could reach Lord Sesshomaru's head. She was busy redoing his intricate hairstyle. The daiyoukai had tried to follow Inuyasha himself, but a few branches had managed to catch some of his hair and the whole hair do had fell apart. Now the little human girl was creating a new one, one which would survive running through thick branches.

"Do me next, Rin!" demanded Jaken who was busy pulling twigs from his golden locks. "I want something fitting a faithful retainer of Lord Sesshomaru. I want to look stunning."

"Can I put flowers in it?" Rin asked, totally happy that she could work with Sesshomaru's silver tresses. It was her daydream come true.

"No! Silly human, flowers would make me look like a girl!"

"Jaken," Lord Sesshomaru said. "You're wearing a woman's yukata. You have long hair cut in a hairstyle named hime cut. You already look like a girl. Rin, are you finished?"

"Soon, Lord Sesshomaru," Rin smiled and pinned a braid up.

"Good. And as soon as this Sesshomaru's perfect image is perfect yet again we shall continue to chase the hanyou to rip his heart and cut his head off so this Sesshomaru finally can claim what is rightfully his - the might of Tessaiga."

"Yes, lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken nodded and stood in front of him.

"Jaken. You go first. Track the hanyou," the daiyoukai ordered.

"But lord Sesshomaru... My hairdo..."

"Later, Jaken. Now go."

The kappa sighed and ran off, following the trail of his lord's younger brother.

o0o

Miroku sighed.

"I always wanted for you, lovely Sango, to straddle and ride me, but I've never expected to have lady Kikyou joining you," he complained. He was flirting with many, yes, ut he desired to be with one and only amazing Sango. Lady Kikyou was more like a flower carved from a block of ice - beautiful, yet not fit to express passion and desire. She was one to be admired, but not touched. And everyone knew Miroku was a little touchy.

"Shut up, monk," replied the girl in a short skirt and gave her female companion a small smile of apology. "He's always like this. Ignore him, but if you feel like it you can hit him."

"You seem to be as violent as Inuyasha can be sometimes," Kikyou said and waved her wings slowly.

"Oh," Sango chuckled. "Actually we're nowhere as violent as he can get, believe me."

"You can get pretty close, lovely Sa- Aaargh!"

"I told you to shut up," Sango rubbed her fist against the spot on Miroku's balloon form where she had hit him. Shippou sighed and shook his head.

"Adults. Crazy as always," he said and looked at Kikyou. "Can you tell me why you're tagging along?"

Kikyou offered him a friendly smile, but the kitsune was still watching her with rather unfriendly eyes.

"I want to discuss some things with my sister. It seems Inuyasha's curse is not broken," she gestured to her wings and Sango's robes. "So it means my reincarnation's idea was wrong."

"Or it wasn't a true love's kiss," Shippou suggested. Kikyou gave a nod, a look of melancholy in her eys.

"Yes," she sighed. "But whatever is the case I want to see my sister since the curse changed me in the same way it had changed her. I wonder if there is any pattern. So, as long as Inuyasha's trail leads in the direction of my old home I'll accompany you."

"So..." Sango glanced at the miko after a few minutes of silently soaring through the sky on Miroku. "You're not angry?"

Kikyou gave her a look of honesty and sadness, but shook her head.

"I was suspecting that things are not like they once were," she confessed. "I once longed to be an ordinary woman, a wife of an ordinary man, longed to share my life with Inuyasha. And even if this longing remains within my heart I can see more clear with every meeting that in his heart it is but a memory. He moved on and I love him enough to let him follow his heart and find happiness. I just want to destroy Naraku and purify the jewel before my existence ends. After all," a small, bittersweet smile crossed her face. "I know beyond any doubt that I will reach happiness in my next life."

"That is if Inuyasha gets to Kagome and finally tells her what he feels," Shippou said, his expression and voice much friendlier now, that he knew Kikyou didn't want to cause Kagome any sorrow. The miko nodded and covered her mouth to silence a small, merry giggle, not fitting both her personality and the mood she was in right now.

"Yes. So, as you can see, I bear no ill will towards you and your friends," the undead miko assured gently.

"I am afraid..." Miroku's voice cut in their conversation. "That Inuyasha can not reach Kagome right now."

"What?" Sango immediately looked to the ground and saw a small meadow with a little hut on it. There were signs of a fight there. And something in the grass was pulsing with an aura they all knew.

All Miroku's passangers looked at each other in shock and fear. Even Kikyou knew Inuyasha wouldn't willingly part with his precious sword.

o0o

A man was sitting in a corner of a dark room. A small, pale girl was standing in front of him, holding a mirror in front of her. The man was took a deep breath.

"Oh, magic mirror, show me the hanyou in red!" the man demanded and looked straight into his reflection before it disappeared. A woman appeared in a gust of wind while he was observing what was happening in the mirror. She spared a glance at the action he was watching, her face expressing boredom and distaste as she looked at the man.

"It won't work. As always," she commented in a casual tone. His red yes met hers.

"Silence! I, Naraku, create only the best of plans to defeat my enemies. And this," he gestured in direction of the mirror.

"Yeah, right," Kagura opened her fan and waved it dgently in front of herself "And I am a yuki onna. Let it snow, let it snow," she added in a sing-song voice before waking off the room.

o0o

A/N: FYI Naraku isn't quoting Snow White's stepmother in the first scene, even if it kinda looks like it (Let's face it, he has a magical mirror, it would be too obvious to put him in this role). When I was writing Naraku there I was actually thinking more about Marveline the Witch from The Bear's Island, not the evil queen, but since Marveline isn't a fairy tale/legend being you can pretend I meant the queen. I just couldn't stop myself here and had to insert this little wink to The Bear's Island fans.  
I'm not sure I portrayed Kikyou good here. I don't like painting her as an evil chick and I am definetely not wanting to portray her as Kagome's rival here.


	14. Big Bad Wolf

**Big Bad Wolf**

* * *

The hell was a horrible, horrible place. Inuyasha couldn't move, he could just stare at the tree limbs moving above him while he was carried in a transparent box covered in sutras to Naraku's lair by a bunch of singing mercenaries (almost all of them as tall as Shippou) while all he wanted to do was to chase after a certain time-travelling miko and shake her stupid ideas off her pretty head before kissing the girl.

Could his life be any worse?

"Heeeey!" a high-pitched voice screeched from nearby.

It could.

Inuyasha knew only one kappa could produce such a sound - Jaken. And sure enough, as soon as he thought his name the everyone's favourite kappa jumped from behind the bushes on the road and slammed his staff of two heads in the ground to intimidate the seven mercenaries who were trying to sneak Inuyasha away. They were standing on a road leading up a steep hillside, Jaken standing a few ,eters above them.

"You fools! Do you really think you could run away from lord Sesshomaru with the hanyou he and only he can kill and devoid of his sword?! Leave the hanyou and I'll let you go free!"

"Can I kill him?" asked Suikotsu.

"Please, do," Inuyasha mumbled from his box, a few of the mercenaries nodded their agreement. The men put the box on the road and attacked the kappa - it seemed they didn't want Suikotsu to have all the fun because all of them rushed to slay Sesshomaru's retainer. A flash of white later Sesshomaru himself entered the picture and engaged the band of seven in a serious battle.

Inuyasha kinda regretted he couldn't see it, but he could hear curses and shouts and feel youki of his brother flare as he was screaming "Off with the heads, Jaken! Off with their heads!" Jaken was screeching like an idiot he was, trying to seet everything on fire. Inuyasha saw Rin on Ah-Un flying above the treetops, waiting for the battle to end. She waved to Inuyasha, but he couldn't wave back, subdued as he was.

Suddenly something crashed against the box's front (just as if someone was pushed against it) and Inuyasha frowned. The scenery above him started to slowly... Move... Slide up smoothly... And it seemed everyone was so occupied with the battle to notice their prisoner was... Well, fleeing.

With a quiet 'shussssh' the smooth glass box started to slide down the silky grass path, gaining momentum as it was going further and further down the hillside. The unwilling passenger of the box just rolled his eyes, resigning himself to his cursed fate.

Could it get any worse?

It could.

It definetely could and the universe was about to show Inuyasha how much.

Inuyasha felt the box shake violently and stop abruptly when it hit a tree growing by the bent of the path near the foot of the hill. He groaned and ran his hand throgh his hair before he realized that something was missing. At least half of the sutras placed on the books had been blown off during his unexpected journey down the hillside. He placed both his hands on the lid of the box and pushed. A low growl escaped his mouth as the lid practically didn't move. Inuyasha closed his eyes and tried to contain his urge to claw at something - anything - in pure rage. He tried to bent his legs, but his knees soon came to cotact with the lid. He used his knees and hands to push again, scowling at the damned contraption.

Suddenly he felt a foul stench and growled a little louder. A figure approached his prison and easily pushed the lid off the box. Inuyasha cringed when the stench of 'manliness' hit his sensitive nose. The man bent down to peek inside the box and grin at the hanyou.

"Oi, mutt face, where's my wo- Gah!" he said when Inuyasha's fist sprang up and met his nose, knocking him to the ground. "Oi, dog shit!"

Inuyasha jumped off the box, shook himself and sprang to his fastest run without any glance or a word to his rescuer. The man stood up, curious and a little worried at that unusual behavior. Inuyasha was supposed to engage him in an insulting and yelling match. The wolf youkai looked up the hillside where a battle was still raging on. Then he frowned because a herd of roe deers with bunches of flowers and birds sitting on their backs ran past him to follow the inu hanyou. A gentle breeze brought Kouga the scent of his two followers coming closer to this place, running after him.

"There's something odd," Kouga murmured to himself, totally missing the eerie glow around him. He looked after Inuyasha and ran after him to get answers. He had followed his scent to see Kagome and she was nowhere around, so the wolf decided to ask Inuyasha where his woman was.

"Oi!" Kouga easily reached the running hanyou, it took only a few minutes. Keeping up with Inuyasha was pretty easy for him. "Oi, red kimono, where are you going?"

"To see my granny, wolf shit," answered Inuyasha with usual amount of politeness, his eyes trained at the forest path in front of him. "Get lost."

"Fine, but tell me where's Kagome," Kouga pressed the hanyou. Something in his face was really worrying the wolf youkai. He looked ahead and saw they were reaching Inuyasha's territory. "Is she in the village you stay so often? I'll go ahead and see her," he grinned at Inuyasha. "Don't worry, I'll keep her company until you come. It can take hours if you want to run so slowly."

Inuyasha's patience - always rather thin - evaporated. He really didn't need a pesky wolf around right now. When a few minutes later he ran onto the meadow where the dry well was he was scowling fiercely. He didn't stop to sniff around to make sure Kagome had been there - the flowers adorning the woodden structure were enough for him to know she had been there. Without thinking he leapt on the lip of the well and jumped down five centuries into the future.

Meanwhile in the forest behind him Ginta and Hakkaku stopped abruptly upon finding Kouga sprawled out on the forest floor, a rather fat tree trunk laying across his back.

"Kouga! What happened to you?"

"Why are your eyes so big?"

"Take..." Kouga breathed out. "Take it off of me! That mutt's gonna regret it!"

A/N: So? How is it so far? What do you think is going happen next? What fate will befall the Well? And will Inuyasha find Kagome in the future?  
And look, I posted two chapters at the same day! Wooohoo, I'm proud of myself.


	15. A Forest Spirit Kind of Situation

**Forest Spirit Kind of Situation**

* * *

Inuyasha leapt out of the well house and almost knocked Kagome's grandfather off his feet when the old man was sweeping the yard.

"Aaah! Yokai! Ah, no, it's only you," Kagome's grandfather sighed in relief when the clawed hands of the hanyou lifted from his shoulders after steadying him.

"Where's she?" Inuyasha growled and glared in his eyes. The man scratched his head.

"Emm... Sorry, but Kagme's not avaliable, she has a severe case of brain cancer," he finally said after tinking about a good excuse, a little distracted by some off feeling - maybe it was the time for a small nap? Inuyasha growled at him and leapt in the direction of the house. He found Kagome's mom in the kitchen, preparing some food. She smiled at him.

"Hello, Inuyasha, dear. Are you hungry?" she greeted him with a warm smile. It was tempting to sit and devour a cup of ramen, but Inuyasha was a hanyou on a mission and he had enough of being deterred. A few birds sat on the windowsill, peeking inside curiously and chirping happily upon seeing Inuyasha standing beside the table.

"Nah. Where's Kagome?" he asked, much more respectfully than he had asked the old man in the yard. This was the woman willing to feed a hanyou (and was paying for all Kagome's supplies and ramen), she deserved respect.

"Oh, she's out," the woman turned all the way to face him. "Do you want to go fetch her?"

Inuyasha gave a nod and then sighed when he saw the woman reach in a drawer to take out of it a scarf. She handed it to him with a warm smile.

"Bette hide your ears if you want to go outside," she said. "I'll be back in a minute..." She went out of the kitchen. thinking if showing Inuyasha a map and point where Ayumi's house was would help him find Kagome who was supposed to be there. While Inuyasha was tying the cloth a hand with fingers curled like a claws attacked his side.

"Sankon Tessou!" Souta exclaimed happily. Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk at the boy before nudging his side. "Are you staying for the dinner, Inuyasha?"

"Depends. First I have to catch Kagome," he replied and went off the house. He had a miko to sniff out. First he went to the school where she was usually spending time in this era. To his utter surprise she wasn't there, the building was empty and closed. He returned to the shrine annoyed and trying to think about where Kagome could be off to. A flock of birds following him and trying to cover him in flowers wasn't helping, it seemed the curse was affecting animals of this era too. While he was walking beside the Sacred Tree he angrily kicked a pile of leaves and cut grass, scaring Buyo who was napping on it. The hanyou stroked his back in a silent apology before he caught a whiff of a heavenly scent. It led him to the kitchen where he found a plate of cookies on the table. He felt his stomach rumble and went to take just-one-cookie after remembering he had had skipped eating for quite some time. As he was munching on the last cookie an idea came to his mind and he ran off the house to visit the place Kagome had shown him once, the place where she was usually going with her friends after school to get some food.

As soon as Inuyasha reached WcDonald's he found out that the place was stuffed. He wanted to get in, but the smells coming from the kitchen were too strong. He just managed to look through a window and see that Kagome wasn't there before he had to flee, feeling sick and dizzy. He had way too many cookies for his first meal in a long while and the smell of boiling fat and spicies was almost as horrible as the odor of ink. Somehow he managed to reach Higurashi shrine and jump up the first opened window on the second store. It wasn't Kagome's room, but it was safe and quiet, so when he finally collapsed to a bed he just closed his eyes and sighed, inhaling the scent of Souta. He rolled on his side and curled in a ball as if it could help him feel better.

He decided to close his eyes just for a few minutes before going downstairs and asking Kagome's mom for help in finding the girl. He just needed to breath in some air full of familiar scents and let his stomach settle. As he had his eyes closed he didn't notice a faint glow enveloping a blanket which moved to cover the hanyou. His feathery escort sat on the windowsill, chirpring quietly.

His ears didn't even twitch when Kagome's grandfather found out after his nap that someone had scattered his neatly swept pile of grass all around the yard. He definetely didn't hear Kagome's mom going through cabinets in the kitchen in search of cookies she had prepared for an evening snack. He didn't hear Souta coming upstairs and find out that his favourite hero was sleeping in his bed, curled in a ball and covering his nose with his sleeve.

He even missed the sounds of shock and surprise when the family members met in the living room. Mama Higurashi rubbed her nose and went for the phone. It was a forest spirit kind of situation and there was only one miko able to handle it.

o0o

Three girls were sitting in a comfy room full of stuffed animals and pillows. Pictures of sunsets and pop bands were adorning pastel blue walls, books were neatly placed on bookshelves. The whole place was practically screaming 'Ayumi', which was precisely who was living there. Yuka and Eri were telling Kagome what had been happening in the school. Their friend was a little too quiet to their liking, they were suspecting it was because of her jerk of a boyfriend, but Kagome refused to talk about her problems. So they decided to leave her to decide when to tell them about them. In the meantime there were other things to talk about. Ayumi had been showing them her new manga, but she had been called by her mom to answer a phone.

"Kagome," Ayumi enterd the room, catching the attention of all three of her frinds. "I'm sorry, but your mother called and said that you should come home." It was odd, the girls had called all their parents to inform them they were staying over at Ayumi's, Kagome couldn't find a reason for her mother to so suddenly change her mind about letting her sleeping at her friend's house.

"Oh, and here I was hoping we could have a sleepover!" Yuka sighed. Kagome offered her friends a warm smile. They had met her when she had been sitting on a park bench and staring at ducks swimming in a pond, and had brought her to Ayumi's, doing their best to cheer her up. She was gratefulshe had such good friends, so concerned about her and willing to do anything to help. Their distracting was the best help, she didn't feel as sad as she had felt earlier.

"Maybe next time," she said to the girls who nodded eagerly. Ayumi smiled at her.

"It's okay, we'll have a sleepover some time later. Your mom said you should hurry. She said it's a forest spirit kind of situation."

"Eh? And what does it mean?" Eri raised an eyebrow. Sadly she didn't get any answer from Kagome, because the miko practically flew out of the room.

Kagome ran out of Ayumi's house trying to figure out how to reach the shrine the fastest - it was quite a distance and there were no buses going in the direction of her shrine during Sunday. Her mother calling her home so suddenly was alarming enough, but the phrase she had used.. Kagome felt a knot tightening in her gut - in Higurashi family language it meant Inuyasha was in the shrine and the situation was too huge for normal humans to handle. It could be the house blasted to ashes by a Wind Scar. It could be a swarm of youkai. It could be Inuyasha eating too much chocolate cookies and suffering a severe stomach ache because as an inu he couldn't digest it. Or it could be someone discovering he was a hanyou from the feaudal ear and calling the police. It could be Hojo coming to visit and telling Inuyasha he was Kagome's boyfriend...

As Kagome was running up a sidewalk she was growling and promising to sit Inuyasha for whatever havoc he had wrecked. He was supposed to stay with Kikyou, free of his curse and happy with the love of his life, not coming to the future to do whatever he had done.

At the same time a huge part of her wanted to hug him and tell him she was glad he came after her, that she had been afraid he wouldn't come.

The young miko stopped abruptly when something white ran out of an alley to her left. To her surprise it wasn't Inuyasha. It was a white horse with flowing mane and tail reaching the ground. The horse casually walked to her and stood beside her, presenting to her his side. The steed had a saddle on and Kagome blinked when she looked at it. There were letters branded on it, claiming that the horse was called Bolt and he was a property of a park located not far from her home. Kagome knew there were a bunch of horses people could ride around the park, but finding one so far from it, without a rider... She looked in the horse's eyes as it made a quiet noise and nudged her.

"You want me to mount you, right?" she asked. "You want to give me a lift and then... Will you return to the park like a good horse you are, Bolt?"

The horse nodded as if it understood her perfectly. As if all of this was perfectly normal.

Kagome felt her mind go blank. It was like a thing from a fairy tale - a hero in need of a horse stumbling upon one and going to save the damsel in distress. She reached to pet the horse before quickly jumping on its back. And if Bolt was here to carry her home it meant... There probably was a damsel in distress to save.

The curse was still holding. And Inuyasha was in her shrine, causing a situation her mother couldn't handle.

"Go, Bolt!" She exclaimed when she grasped the reins and the horse immediately started to run down the sidewalk, easily evading staring people.

A/N: For someone who knows he's cursed and can spread the curse by touching Inuyasha sure is a touchy guy :D  
Will Inuyasha kiss Kagome to break the curse when she gets home? Will it work? What if not? Or maybe Kagome will sit him until next week before he has time to explain?  
I don't know how fast the next chapter will appear. I want to finish this story before Inuvember starts, but I'm not sure it will happen cuz my inspiration to write comes and goes as it pleases. But I'll do my best to at least try.


	16. Silverlock and the Three Bears

**Silverlock and the Three Bears**

* * *

The white steed stoppd before the shrine steps and let Kagome slide off his back. She patted his shoulder.

"Good boy. Go back home," she encouraged the animal and to her surprise the horse immediately ran down the street in the direction of the park. She saw a person dressed in a park worker uniform come from behind a corner and shout happily when the horse approached them.

"Bolt! You naughty boy, we were looking for you!" the park worker exclaimed and claimed the reins of the animal to lead it home. Kagome smiled, but then quickly turned on her heels and sprinted up the shrine steps.

As she approached the top of the stairs she saw Buyo sitting on the last step, looking at her curiously.

"Oh, Buyo!" she greeted the cat as she jumped above his head to go to the house.

"Purrr," replied Buyo lazily. "You are running late, little girl."

Kagome froze at the sound of deep, masculine voice. She turned her head to look at the feline. Buyo smiled. And smiled wider. And wider.

And then she realized only this unnatural, a little too fangy smile was all she could see. She gasped and the smile was gone too.

"Better move, little girl," came the same voice from an empty bench to her left. Before her unblinking, shocked eyes the smile appeared there, hovering above the woodden seat for a second before the rest of the cat appeared. Buyo curled in a ball, obviously deciding that a cat nap was in order after shocking the girl breathless.

Kagome opened her mouth a few times before she was ready to speak. But at the same time she took a breath to ask the first of the questions swirling in her head she saw the door of her house slide open.

"Hey, sis!"

"Souta, dear, we agreed not to leave the house this afternoon," came the voice of her mom from somewhere further inside. "Kagome, come in! We really need to talk!"

"Yes, mom!" Kagome took a calming breath and walked inside the house. She could hear her family in the kitchen so she walked in that direction. As she entered the kitchen she had to grab the doorframe for support.

A panda was sitting in grandpa's chair and reading a newspaper. An another panda was working its way through preparing tea with its bear paws. A much smaller panda ran to Kagome's side on its hind legs and spoke in Souta's excited voice.

"Kagome! Look! We're a matching set!" he exclaimed and Kagome realized it was real. Her family was turned pandas. She looked around, but saw nothing red and white

"Mom?" Kagome felt like in a dream when she approached the tea making panda. "Where's Inuyasha?"

"Oh, he's upstairs, dear," the panda replied in a calming, reassuring tone. "I believe you want to explain some things to us, but maybe first wake him up, okay? We tried everything, but he's still sleeping."

"Okay, mom. I promise we will explain everything," Kagome sighed and walked out of the kitchen. She went to her room and found it hanyou-free. When she got out to ask her family where exactly Inuyasha should be she heard a noise fom Souta's room. The young miko walked right there and opened the door.

A bunch of small greyish squirrels were busy adorning Souta's comic books collection with acorns while multiple birds were adding flowers to any surface capable of holding any. The floor was covered in a colofrul carpet of petals, multicolored pieces of paper, some feathers and leaves. And Inuyasha was laying on her brother's bed. Kagome approached him slowly, surprised that the scowling sleeping hanyou's ears were motionless. Usually they would swivel and twitch with every noise.

'He must be really deep in sleep,' she thought when she sat on the edge of the bed and reachd a hand to brush his hair off his face. The hanyou just sighed in his sleep. She looked around. 'So the curse isn't broken. Was Kikyou's kiss not a true love's kiss? Could it be he doesn't love her anymore? Or did her love die with her fifty years ago?'

Inuyasha let out a soft, a little distressed whine and licked his lips in his sleep, his scowl deepening. A pair of squirrels sat on Souta's pillow beside Inuyasha's head to look at him worriedly. Then they looked up to Kagome as if expecting she could fix whatever was wrong.

She looked down at him and leaned in, resting her weight on the hand she had previously had used to brush his hair, now resting against the bed on his other side. She promised herself it would be just a small peck, soft enough not to wake him up. Nothing for him to remember and a memory for her to cherish for the rest of her life.

His lips were soft and moist, parted slightly as he lay relaxed in his slumber. As Kagome's mouth touched his her eyes fluttered shut, the miko wanting to commit everything to her memory. Her tonuge licked his lips and moved a little past them. He was tasting like chocolate and it was harder to pull away from him that she'd expected.

As soon as Kagome's eyes closed a pair of yellow ones opened widely in shock before slowly closing again. An arm found a way around the miko's waist to pull her gently closer as the person sucked at the tip of her tongue. The birds were chirping happily around the room and the squirrels were clapping their hands but no one was paying them any attention.

Kagome sat up with a gasp, staring at a very awake and very blushing Inuyasha. She would run away and deny all that had happened in her brother's room, but the expression on Inuyasha's face stopped her. Kagome felt her cheeks warm up when she was looking down in those beautiful golden eyes full of affection, satisfaction and embarassment. Inuyasha licked his lips and took a deep breath.

'Here it comes,' Kagome tried to brace herself. She was about to hear him confess his feelings to her or throw a tantrum over being kissed.

"I think I'm goin' to puke," Inuyasha breathe out, his scowl, which had disappeared for a minute, rreturning, his eyes losing all their glow.

Kagome's eye twitched.

"Sit!"

She was almost out of the room, angry, embaressed and hurt when she heard the hanyou's painful groan. When she looked back she saw Inuyasha curled in a ball as much as he could while pressed against Souta's bed. She hesitated.

"Stupid wench, I didn't mean that like that!" he spat and rolled to his side when th spell let him. "Damn cookies..."

"Oh, goodness, you ate the cookies?" Kagome jumped when she saw her mother in the doorway. 'How long is she there? Did she see us...? Wait, cookies...?'

"What cookes?" Kagome asked the both of them. The panda with kind eyes of her mother sighed while Inuyasha just rolled again and made a noise as if trying to vomit. Luckily for Souta's carpet it was just a noise, not followed by any... Material stuff.

"I made chocolate cookies and left them on the kitchen table, but when I went out to see where gradpa was they disappeared," the panda explained, looking at the hanyou worriedly. "I'm afraid Inuyasha's allergic to chocolate."

"You tried to poison me!" Inuyaha groaned from his spot sprawled on the edge of Souta's bed, a squrrel rubbing his shoulder in a soothing manner.

"Oh, dear, let me fetch you a bowl and then make a herbal tea..." the panda said in a tone resrved only for mothers taking care of their sick kids before she went away. Kagome slowly walked to resume her sitting position beside Inuyasha. She even collected his hair so it'd not fall on his face. He looked at her, but remained motionless when she reached for his ear and rubbed it.

"I think you need a lecture about stuff you can't eat here," she said, grateful that their attention was on something else than the kiss. A part of her was unhappy because he had chosen to get sick now of all the time, but it was just him being himself. "Chocolate in poisonous to dogs and since you are an inu hanyou and suffer like this..."

"Kagome..." Inuyasha's eyes twinkled suddenly as his body curled around her. "Can we bring some for Sesshomaru?" She smiled and shook her head. If he had strength to joke he was not feeling 'that' bad. Assuming he was joking.

Ten minutes later it became obvious Inuyasha couldn't return what he ate - Kagome's theory was that vomiting wasn't princess-like so the curse wouldn't let him do it. Inuyasha growled for her to witness him and almost put two of his clawed fingers in his mouth before Kagome's mother stopped him and gave him a herbal tea. To their surprise Kagome's grandfather brought the hanyou an odd looking liquid saying it was a traditional antidote to all poisons. Kagome was wary of the potion, but Inuyasha downed the bottle without batting an eye.

Everyone was quite surprised to see that the potion actually healed the half inu youkai (or it was the tea). When the hanyou was feeling better he and Kagome sat with Kagome's family in the living room and told them about the horrible curse placed on Inuyasha's head ("It's a very tragic story," commented Kagome's grandfather, who was not really focusing on the discussion because of his newspaper). All agreed that the curse had to be broken soon. With that decided Inuyasha grabbled Kagome's hand and pulled her in the direction of the well.

Buyo was sitting on the lip of the ancient well, smiling his crazy smile.

"So the kiss didn't work, huh?" he said in a casual tone, his smile growing wider when Inuyasha growled at him and Kagome scowled fiercely while blushing. No one of the pair seemed to notice the well glowing faintly with soft blue light.

"It ain't your business, cat!" barked Inuyasha, trying to conceal his own blush behind the veil of white hair.

"It is, dog," Buyo shook his head like an adult annoyed by a kid being stubborn. "Maybe try confession if you want the curse lifted. I myself couldn't care less, but my humans can't bring me cat food as pandas."

"C-confession?" Kagome squeaked. "Like a confession of l-love...?" the blushes the pair was trying to hide only grew brighter.

"Oh, purrrhease, confession of love is easy. After all you want the other person to at least acknowledge your feelings. I meant something more like confessing something you don't want others to know," Buyo licked his paw and then jumped off the well. "Well, dog?"

Inuyasha growled and pulled Kagome's arm.

"Let's go. The cat's just playing with out brains."

"But..." Kagome started, but was picked up bridal style and the next second she was falling down five centuries in the past, held by a scowling and still blushing hanyou. 'well, at least he came after me,' she thought as she rested her head against his chest. 'And we kissed,' she smiled and closed her eyes before the blue light faded.

A/N: Look, we got a kiss! Yaay! In the next chapter we will learn what happened to the well, what there was to be confessed and if it helped. And our favourite merry miko god mother Kaede will explain why the true love's kiss didn't work.  
It's cold so remember to throw your flmes at me in the review area. Or throw flowers cuz it's a grey and ugly day


	17. Wishes in the Well

**Wishes in the Well**

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A/N: One of my amazing readers wrote about the chocolate thing and I felt like elaborating here - it's my general hc for all my stories.  
So - in short words - Inu youkai (and hanyou) can eat chocolate as all canine youkai can (see Shippou eating all sweets from the future). In the previous chapter Inu got sick after eating the cookies cuz he ate too much of them, not cuz they were chocolate ones. Still, the characters are convinced that was an allergy.

* * *

Miroku spotted Ah-Un and flew in his direction. Rin waved her hand when she recognizd Sango, despite of her odd outfit. The lady beside Sango looked almost like Kagome, but Rin wasn't sure who she was. All the newcomers looked down at a path running up a hillside.

Band of Seven was battling Sesshomaru, Jaken laying to the side and rolling his head.

"Why are they fighting?" Sango asked Rin.

"They captured master Inuyasha," the girl explained. "And lord Sesshomaru wanted him for himself because he wants to take Tessaiga for himself."

"Inuyasha isn't here," Kikyou pointed out. "I don't feel his youki nearby."

Rin nodded. "He... Ran away. He seemed to be in hurry to get somewhere." She looked down when she heard a man cry out in pain, it seemed Sesshomaru was winning this battle. Two of the men were already down, unconscious. The daiyoukai was laughing, probably forgetting about the reason he had attacked the men. Rin supposed he was glad he could exercise a little.

"I see. Monk, I think we should leave here and follow Inuyasha," Kikyou suggested. She was not interested in the fight at all, it didn't concern her who would win.

"Yes, we need to give his fang to him,," Sango nodded. The tanuki sighed and they were flying again.

"See you later, on my birthday party!" Rin called after them happily. The trio assured her they'd be there and went on, following Inuyasha's trail. They stopped for a minute when they found the wolves, but only to gather more information on when and where they had met Inuyasha - Kouga was buried under a tree in a very inflicted-by-Inuyasha-like manner.

"It seems Inuyasha don't care much about touching people," Miroku mused

"Yeah," Shippou grinned. "I must get him before he gets the curse broken."

Finally they got to the village. They wanted to meet with Kaede before approaching the clraring with the well. They found the old miko sitting beside her hut which was standing proudly over a couple of small sheds on chicken legs.

"They hatched an hour ago," Kaede said when she saw their quizzical gazes. Then she smiled at her sister. "I see ye met Inuyasha. Where is he and the young Kagome?"

"Should be back any minute," Sango replied. "We should go to the clearing."

"Ah, I see," Kaede nodded and flew to Kikyou to hug her sister. Kikyou smiled at her and the both of them followed the tanuki and slayer, the fox running first down the path leading into Inuyasha's Forest.

o0o

Kagome blinked and looked up when Inuyasha landed on the bottom of the well on the feudal era side and didn't move to leave it.

"Inuyasha?" she whispered, unable to look away from his intense yellow eyes.

"You stupid wench!" he growled in an oddly affectionate way, pressing her closer to his chest. She scowled at him. "Stop making stupid guesses!"

"What do you mean? And don't call me stupid, stupid! You changed my family!"

"Cuz your stupid ass ran away before I had a chance to explain!"

"Explain what?" she huffed, frowning at him. Inuyasha blushed and tried to say something a few times, awkwardly looking away.

"Erm..."

"I wish you told me what exactly you want to tell me," Kagome murmured. Whatever he wanted to tell her it wouldn't probably never be said. Maybe it would be better if she didn't knew? She could guess what he wanted to tell her and her mind came up with a dozen options, none with a positive outcome.

"I don't love Kikyou, idiot, I love you!" he blurted out and blinked, as if surprised he managed to say it so easily, so boldly. "I wish you finally understood that I love the one and only Kagome..." whatever he told next she didn't hear it.

Kagome felt as if a door was opened in her mind. She remembered all the times when he had protected her, had been injured because of her, had been jealous, had been nice... Had tried to word things dwelling in his heart... She remembered how he had spoken her name, how he had missed her when she was gone (kinda like a lost puppy), how he had let her see his soft side. She realized he really saw her as her own person, wanted to stay with her, be her protector and friend. It came to her mind almost magically - the knowledge he didn't dare to hope he could be her mate, her husband. The amount of worries about the future, the fears of being rejected, about reaction of their friends and the villagers to them being together... He loved Kikyou, but not in the same way - Kagome could easily see the difference of the emotions he had for the undead miko and herself. Now she could see how great was his longing for her, his desire to see her happy and safe, to be at her side, to be the father pf her pups. Some emotions were hard to read, obviously coming from his youkai side, but she had no problem reading his human heart. And it had only one thing in it - herself.

It was hard to remember to breathe under all this overload of information coming from an unknown source, all at once. It was as if Kagome suddenly acquired a key to Inuyasha's heart and mind.

It was good he held her so closer, Kagome was sure she'd end up on the ground if he wouldn't hold her. She looked up at him, her eyes widened in realization that her love for him was mutual. Without a word she encircled her arms around his neck and kissed her hanyou in a sweet, soft way. The man holding her froze, but then relaxed and returned the kiss shyly and awkwardly, but eagerly.

"I understand now," she whispered when she pulled away after a long minute. "I am sorry, Inuyasha. I love you too," she added, still trying to sort all she had learned just a moment ago. Inuyasha's eyes were full of affection and shock. "You idiot, you should have told me earlier."

"K-Kagome..." he breathed out and then a small smirk graced his lips. "That's my line."

A/N: OK, let's see if it works in real world... I wish for you to write what you think about this chapter/story :)

Also if you want to beta this story poke me, I can make this wish come true


	18. Musical Break

**Musical Break**

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A/N: Sweet Anon, I know it's long since the last update on Forest Spirit, but, please, try to be patient. I love this story as much as you and I want it flowing, but I have a really shitty time and it's hard for me to write anything lately. As soon as I get the next chapter from my betas I'll fix it and post.  
Meanwhile I made a blog specially for my fics-related stuff. I intend on posting there about my writing, some previews, my questions to my readers, replies to your asks and stuff like this. Everyone interested can find the link to the tumblr page on my profile.

Inuyasha closed his eyes when Kagome reached up and brushed away a stray flower from his hair before rubbing his ear. He felt so at peace now, with her knowing his biggest secret. They had spent the last hour talking about it and he was still surprised was so much... Less painful and embarasing that he had expected it would be. Kagome understood his feelings and worries concering her and their relationship. And a honest girl she was she was happy to help him conquer at least some of his fears. She was telling him she didn't care about the opinion of the rest of the world, that she just wanted to be at his side and see him happy. Her at his side was the only thing he needed to be happy, he had told her that.

He was still terrible with words, but luckily their patience didn't run too thin during their conversation, both parties doing their best to communicate exactly what they wanted. Inuyasha was extremely pleased there were no Inuyasha-shaped craters around the area.

Who knew they could sort so many things only by expressing mushy stuff?

When he voiced his amazement Kagome waved her hand and told him it was likely because of the curse - in fairytales misunderstandings were much easier to work through and straighten. And a kiss would usuall fix almost ecerything. They tried fixing the curse a few more times during the conversation but it hadn't seem to help. Inuyasha decided that true love's kisses, no matter how enjoyable, weren't the cure. Still, before the hour passed the words 'let's try again' became their own way to say 'kiss me.' Those were shy, chaste kisses, but both parties were secretly pleased by this developmet in their relationship, even if they felt it was quite fast.

Finally Inuyasha picked Kagome up and jumped off the well. He passed a rainbow and a flock of butterflies before reaching the ground level, but none of them commented on it. Or on the bed of flowers surrounding the well. They sat with their backs to it after sensing their friends approaching the clearing from the direction of the village. They could meet and talk here. A few rabbits and squrrels were playing in the tall grass while a group of mice were dancing to the birds' song.

"I guess we're lucky the well still works as it should," Kagome said.

"Yeah." Inuyasha glared at a butterfly who sat on his bent knee. "Get lost, fucker." Kagome giggled when the butterfly waved its wings, showing the delicate pattern of reds and pinks.

"Such is a fate of a fairy tale princess, you attract cute animals," she said and earned a growl from him.

"I ain't a princess. You are, I'm your protector," he declared firmly and blew a sigh at the butterfly. The bug flew up and landed on Kagome's sock-covered calf.

"Let's see... I woke you up with a kiss, I saved you from a tower and an arranged marriage, you have a bunch of wild animals bring you flowers, you break in musical numbers... Hmmm, this one didn't happen for a while now..." she eyed the hanyou. His ears lowered. "And you have such a nice singing voice..."

"Not gonna happen." Inuyasha scowled at her and turned around to face away from her to hide the pink dusting his cheeks and nose.

"Are you sure? Not a little song?" Kagome teased with a grin. "Or maybe something romantic to say before our friends come? Come to think about it you didn't say the words yet."

"Which words?" Inuyasha's ear swiveled in her direction, but he remained motionless.

"I love you," Kagome replied. Who would think she was able to say it when a mere hours ago she herself woul choke on the first syllabe of this sentence? She knew - somehow - what he felt for her, but it'd be nice to hear it from him.

"No chance, no way - I won't say it, no, no. It's too cliche - I won't say I'm in love," Inuyasha gulped and covered his mouth with both his hands. A wide smile appeared on Kagome's face when she heard him actually sing this. More, she knew a song with suspiciously similar lyrics. Her imagination quickly painted Inuyasha in a Greek dress, with his hair in a ponytail. 'Stubborn hanyou,' she smirked to herself.

"You keep on denying," Kagome sang in reply, barely holding in her laughter when Inuyasha's head turned around with an inhuman speed, his sunny eyes wide and shocked, his cheeks red and his mouth open. "Who you are and how you're feeling. Inu, we're not buying. Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling."

"I ain't hit anythin'! You're nuts!" he exclaimed, resting his weight on one hand when he twisted his body to partially face her and lean in her direction. Kagome grinned at him broadly.

"Say it or I'll continue singing," Kagome threatened. Inuyasha's face was mere centimeters from hers, his eyes looking straight into her soul while his ears were trained on her and only her. He scowled at her when she hummed the melody of the song. He licked his lips.

"...At least out loud," he sang very quietly in a husky voice. "I won't say I'm in love..."

With the last word he kissed her gently, just a chaste kiss, but Kagome couldn't help but smile when his mouth pressed against hers. A ray of sunlight pierced the clouds covering the sky and bathed the meadow and the couple in soft, golden light, making Inuyasha's unruly mane shine and Kagome's hair appear darker in contrast to all the colorful scenery.

When the pair broke the kiss and rested their foreheads against each other the serenity of the scene was broken with multiple gasps of shock. Both the miko and the hanyou jumped back, as if hoping that putting some distance between themselves would convince their audience that all they had witnessed had been just an illusion. Kagome looked to the edge of the meadow to see Miroku, Shippou, Sango, Kaede and Kikyou stare at them, all in various stages of shock.

"Um... We can explain...?" she tried. A rainbow appeared above the meadow.

A/N: Believe it or not, but when I was writing the musical number part my music player played I Won't Say from Hercules. Yup, totally not spoopy. My player does things like this all the time


	19. By The Well

**By The Wel** l

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A/N: Shippou gets his chance. Inu follows Buyo's advice, but only because Kirara already gave away his hidden secret. Kikyou and Kaede find answers. Naraku's puppet attacks.  
It's just another ordinary day in Feudal Era.

* * *

No one moved for a long second. Inuyasha and Kagome were still sitting by the well, their friends staring at them from the treeline. Kagome blushed and awkwardly looked at Inuyasha, but did nothing to move away from him. Finally Shippou flinched and started running in their direction, a determinated look on his little face. As if his action broke a spell the rest followed the kitsune, approaching the well in a slower pace.

Kagome was sure Shippou was going to jump in her arms to greet her as alway, so she outstretched her arms towards the child with a kind smile. To her utter surprise Shippou's target was not her, but Inuyasha.

"Ha!" exclaimed the little fox excitedly when he handed on Inuysha's bent knee and taooed his cheek just to make sure he touched the hanyou's skin. Then he puffed out his chest, frozing and waiting for the bright light to engulf him and change him like it had done with his friends. Everyone was looking at him for a long minute, but nothing was happening.

"Huh?" Inuyasha poked the kitsune, a curious, puzzled expression on his face. "Ya ain't changin', squirt."

Shippou groaned and was about to say something, but Kikyou landed beside them, gaining attention of everyone else. Kaede quickly joined her sister, both frowning lightly and twirling their wands in their fingers.

"Did you feel this, little sister?" Kikyou asked, the old miko nodded.

"Aye," Kaede confirmed further and turned to look at the confused group standing and sitting around them. "The curse won't change Shippou because his kitsune youki doesn't let it."

Shippou groaned and jumped to the ground to sit there and scowl at everyone, making a good impression of a certain inu hanyou. Kagome smiled at him softly, simply glad everyone was focused on this matter and not teasing her and Inuyasha about the scene they had witnessed. It seemed the gods had mercy on her...

...Or so she was thinking until...

"And here I was hoping the romantic kiss we witnessed was going to free us," Miroku said, one paw rubbing his chin in reverie while his other paw wandered to Sango's firm backside clad in a skirt he liked very much on her because it was letting him admire her long, muscular legs. Sadly the slayer didn't appreciate his recent actions and slapped him with a small growl. She walked over to stand beside Kikyou. Inuyasha and Kagome both blushed at Miroku's words.

"Shut up, monk," Inuyasha growled. The two miko-turned-fairy godmothers ignored the tanuki's comment, much to Kagome's relief. She really wasn't sure what to think and do now, after all she was Inuyasha's former love...

"In the moment the curse was battling the kitsune youki of the young one," the undead miko said, her wings calmly waving behind her in a hypnotizing motion.

"And?" Inuyasha asked, looking at the miko sisters. "Do you know how to break the curse or what?"

"Buyo said that if the kiss don't work we should try confessing," Kagome remembered and turned to look at the hanyou and then at the undead miko, waiting for her opinion on the matter. Was her cat's advice any good? She herself was kinda wanting to give it a shor, after all it was crazy enough to work.

"You can try that, but I am afraid the cure is more complicated," Kikyou replied politely, a mischievous smile adorning her face and making her look almost like Kagome for a short second.

"I guess the one confessing should be Inuyasha, right?" Sango asked, playing with a small wand she held in her hand. It was pink wih gold stars and a silver boomerang on top of it. Or it could be a crescent moon.

Inuyasha gave her one of his deepest scowls and when he noticed everyone else was looking at him expectantly. He growled and jumped to his feet, waving his hands before sticking them back in his sleeves.

"What do ya want me to confess?" he growled at the whole group looking at him. He then put hs hand in his sleeve and with a scowl took out of his sleeve one of Kagome's shoes - the one he had took off her foot while she had been fleeing on Kirara. "Here! have your damn shoe!" he said, obviously frustrated.

"Um... Thanks?" Kagome took the shoe and gave an uncertain small smile.

"I have this sneaky suspicion it wasn't the right thing to confess," Miroku didn't even try to hide a small smirk on his face. Kaede closed her one good eye and put her wand between her both hands, frowning a little as she was focusing her power.

"I can try to see what is connected to the curse," she declared and the whole group fell silent, waiting for her next words. "I see two books," she said slowly. Inuyasha glared at her. "One is dark blue with stars and rainbows on it and the other is light pink with a picture of a red-haired woman with fish tail," the old miko continued.

"Oh, I think I know books which look like this!" Kagome exclaimed and stood up. "I have both. Since I was going to go back for the other shoe I will bring those too."

"That might be wise," said Kikyou with a small nod. "Go now and fetch the books. They may help us figure out what to do next."

"Inuyasha has to confess something naughty, didn't lady Kagome's cat not suggest that?" said the tanuki with a little chuckle. Unluckily for him the only person who could subdue an irate hanyou was at this moment crossing the time portal, so he had to flee.

Sango and the miko sisters were looking after the males in silence for a short while. Shippou was still sulking on the other side of the well.

"I think it would be too easy, this confession thing," said Sango. "The five-tail's curse is way too big to be undone with just a few words."

"Ah, this can be possible." Kaede sat down on the grass, her companions followed her lead and sat down too. "But even if it's not the cure it would surely be an entertaining thing to witness that, don't ye think?" the old woman chuckled. Sango grinned.

"I've never seen him quite so frustrated," Kikyou let out a little chuckle and turned her head to look at the trees where the men had disappeared. "I don't know how the two books are connected to his curse, but I do think they can be also connected to the confession the other one spoke about."

"Aye, that can be true, older sister," Kaede nodded.

Inuyasha returned a few minutes later, escorted by a group of wild animals. Miroku was bringing up the rear of that small procession, rubbing a new lump on his head. Miroku quickly sat nearby the slayer. Inuyasha walked by the sitting group and peered inside the well. Shippou jumped to sit on his shoulder.

"Do you think she's going to be back soon?" the fox asked. Inuyasha glared at him.

"She better," he put his hands in his sleeves and sat on the corner of the well. All they could do now was to wait for Kagome's return with the books Kaede had seen in her vision.

"I wish she'd return soon, with a bag of candy," said Shipou in a hopeful tone. He needed the sweets to forget about the fact that the curse had not changed him.

And just as he made his wish a strange power pulled Kagome back through the well.

A/N: I know I didn't update in a while. I'm sorry, but I don't feel well most of the time and yeah. I'm aware this chap isn't as good as the previous ones, but hope the following ones will be better. When I feel better I may come back and edit this chapter.


	20. Unwilling Confession

**Unwilling Confession**

* * *

A/N: Treat this chapter as a second part of the previous one. I cut it in half because I had to rewrite this one and because it'd be too long compared to the rest.

* * *

Kagome felt a strange force grip her and fly her back to the well house and donn the well. She tried to fight it, but to no avail. And then she was suddenly thrown up, against the force of gravity.

Straight in Inuyasha's arms. The hanyou grabbed her and held to his body to keep her safe while Shippou caught a big bag which had made the journey with her. A flock of random butterflies flew around the cursed hanyou and the time-traavelling miko.

"Kagome!" exclaimed everyone sitting near the well when Inuyasha hugged her tighter and put on her own feet. Shippou looked inside the bag.

"Candy! It's for me, Kagome?" he asked and gave her a hopeful smile.

"Don't eat it all at once, okay?" Kagome asked, not even questioning why and from where she had a bag of candy while crossing the portal. "Thank you for catching me." She smiled at Inuyasha who let go of her, "fehed" and blushed. The pair sat down in the circle of their friends. Fuzzy bunnies were playing a short distance from them. The little kitsune sat beside Kagome and started stuffing his mouth.

"Did you find the books, lady Kagome?" asked Miroku. The hanyou at her side, just a minute earlier relaxed (even if a little embarassed) tensed at this question and glared at the monk-turned-tanuki. Kagome shook her head.

"No. I looked for them in my room, but I couldn't find them. I guess they're somewhere in the storage shed or..."

"Meow!" everyone looked to the edge of the meadow where Kirara was peeking her head out of a hole in an old tree. Inuyasha's ears lowered.

"Kirara!" exclaimed Sango and ran to her feline companion. "You were here all this time?"

"Meow," replied Kirara, still sitting in the hole. To Kagome's surprise Inuyasha started to growl so low it was hard to hear even while he was sitting right next to her. Still, Kirara seemed to hear him well enough because she looked straight at him and purred before ducking in the hole, prompting Sango to put her hands in it.

"I guess she was tired after the ride and took a nap," Kagome said and was about to apologize, but Sango's cry of surprise silenced her. Sango returned to their group with Kirara on her shoulder and two familiar books in her hands.

Or rather two binders.

"Oh! So they're here?" Kagome took the binders from Sango and looked at everyone. Kirara proudly walked to Sango's side and nestled in her lap when the woman knelt down. "Those are the books I was talking about. I wonder how they managed to appear here... The last time I saw them they were on a shelf in my room..."

"And only ye and Inuyasha can go through the well," Kaede practically cackled. Kagome turned to look at the said hanyou who's face was full of emotions. There was anoyance, embarassment and some amount of guilt.

"You took them," she stated. Inuyasha's ears drooped.

"I was going to bring them back, you know!" exclaimed the hanyou and glared at Kirara who flickered her twin tails in obvious mirth.

"But why did you take them? They're not... Your type," Kagome looked down at the binders in her lap.

"Confess!" chuckled the tanuki merrily, rubbing his paws and sitting more comfortably. The deep blush and lowered ears of his friend were a clear sign the show was about to start. The miko sisters were quietly watching the situation unfold, letting the gang to sort things by themselves.

"And what type they are?" asked Sango in curiousity. "They sure look strange..."

"Um," Kagome handed her the binders back. "These are my old binders. I was collecting stuff in them. The first one is with fairytales based on Western... Picture stories?" Kagome frowned, thinking how to introduce Disney movies to her feudal era friends. "And in the other I was storing pictures of my favourites - I had some pictures from some anime and other things," she shrugged. Because everyone was still looking at her with confused expressions she sighed. "There were fairytales with pictures."

The simplest explanation seemed to be the one everyone could accept without further explanation. Just thinking about explaining movies and the whole 'magic boxes' to the group of her friends from the past was making her head ache. She could remember explaining TV news to Inuyasha a few months ago - she still wasn't sure he grasped the concept and he had seen the TV more than once.

Talking about Inuyasha... Kagome looked back at her hanyou who was pulling half-wiltered flowers out of his unruly mane, avoiding everyone's eyes. Belatedly she thought it'd be probably much easier to make him answer her question if they were alone. Now there was no chance to keep it a secret and the hanyou was flustered. Kagome prayed to the gods that no one would tease him about the reasons for him taking her binders. She was sure he was going to run away the second someone tried to tease him. And knowing the curse he'd be abducted by a dragon or something the next minute.

"I wanted to practice reading and Souta said I could try those," he muttered. Kagome needed a moment to realize Inuyasha actually replied. He was still not looking at her, pretending the softly whispered confession never had happened, but she knew she had heard him. Kagome blinked at the hanyou who put his hands in his sleeves to keep his fingers from fidgeting.

"Practice?" Miroku asked. "You can read?"

"Of course I can, idiot!" Inuyasha growled at the monk. "I'm a noble, damn it!"

Kikyou snickered.

"You don't act so noble right now," she pointed out. "I have this growing suspicion the Inuyasha I knew when I was alive was not the real one. I am glad you can act freely and be yourself around your friends now and I am sorry that you felt the need to be so polite and calm around me before." the undead miko confessed and smiled honestly. She got everyone's attention, but she was looking solely at the hanyou who stopped pouting and looked down. She waved her wings, glad she could express herself.

Kagome rested her hand on Inuyaha's leg and smiled.

"Yes, sometimes I wish he could be a little more polite, but he's Inuyasha," she smiled wider when she heard a small growl.

"Inuyasha..." Sango started slowly. While the rest was enjoying the show she was browsing the binders. "There's not too much to read... Majority of the pages is blank."

"Blank?" Kagome snatched one of the binders from Sango's lap and went through it. To her surprise Sango was right - majority of the pale colored pages was blank. The pictures and text was gone. Inuyasha frowned at the book in her hand, it seemed this was new to him too.

"It's not so surprising," said Shippou from his spot. "The five-tail probably bound the curse to those books and this is why you guys fit the fairytales from Kagome's era."

"Hm," kagome went through the book again. The only parts where the text and pictures remained were the pages containing Cindarella, Snow White, half of Red Ridding Hood, Goldlock and the Three Bears and a few other faitytales. There were lone sentences scattered across other pages, as if indicating that there should be more text there.

"There are only the parts of stories which we saw," she said. "Like in Rapunzel's chapter we have the whole part of rescuing the princess from the tower and... Inuyasha, I even asked you to give me your hair so I could climb in to your room," she turned to the hanyou in excitement.

"My theory is that the stories we live through reappear in the books," said Kaede while the youngest miko was thinking about all those small details in their adventures of the last couple of days. "I think that the curse may be broken when they all are back visible..."

"What?" Inuyasha stared at the old priestess. "Do we have to live through all of this shit?"

"I thin you should see Mariko," Kikyou suggested, drawing everyone's attention back to herself. "She's a miko and a friend of mine, she's great in undoing spells and curses. Maybe she can help."

"Great, another stupid quest while Naraku is hiding somewhere," Inuyasha grumbled, but it was obvious the information that there was someone who could help him get free made him feel better.

And, as if on cue a cloud of miasma formed on the edge of the meadow. Everyone leapt to their feet and grabbed their weapons when a person clad in a white pelt came out of the cloud.

"Kukuku, it's my lucky day, all my enemies in one place. It's making me regret sending a puppet and not going myself, but I had a lot of vile things to do and simply couldn't find time in my schelude," cackled the person behind the monkey mask

"A puppet?!" exclaimed the gang in surprise.

"Don't worry, it will be enough to wipe you off," Naraku promised and llifted his hand, summoning his bad bees and lower youkai. As the horde of Naraku's servants charged, not minding a few sacred arrows killing their comrades Inuyasha jumped in front of his friends and drew Tessaiga.

"Wind Scar!"

And as he slammed his mighty iron fang to the ground the sword howled a song of bloodlust, fierce protectiveness, loyalty and anger. It sang a song of victory when the rays of colorful, glittering light obliterated the youkai and the puppet along with a couple of trees.

And it didn't stop singing when Inuyasha dropped it while staring at the shocked faces of his friends, the butterflies flying in the afterglow of the Wind Scar and the cheering bunnies.

"...Oh shit."

A/N: I really hope this chapter is to your liking, guys. Tell me what you think about it!


	21. The Quest Begins!

**The Quest Begins!**

* * *

A/N: To answer one of my reviewers - yup, I saw the episode Infinity and I think there should be more stuff like this. And 'Refresh!' scene will happen in this story, but not yet.

* * *

Tessaiga was howling. Inuyasha and Shippou were both listening to it with their heads tilted for a minute before the hanyou sheathed the blade and silenced it. Kagome was observing her beloved hanyou take a few deep breaths before looked at his friends, his hands sneaking in his robe's sleeves. For someone who just had witnessed their precious family heirloom howl like a crazy canine and emit a rainbow of sparkles instead of pure youki attack he looked quite composed. Almost as if he was... Expecting this, or at least supposing it'd happen.

"What?" he asked the group staring at him, his ears twitching, apparently he didn't enjoy being in the center of everyone's attention. This or he didn't like the butterfly trying to sit on the tip of his right ear.

"You won't adress what happened to Tessaiga?" Miroku inquired, his head tilted. Inuyasha shrugged, shaking off a squirrel holding a flower in its mouth and trying to braid it in his forelock.

"Naah. It ain't the weirdest thing that happened," he waved his hand and laid it on the sword's hilt. "Now move your asses, we have places to go. Kikyou, can you give us the location where that miko lives?"

Kikyou's wings fluttered when she looked up at the man in red robes, a light breeze playing with his silver hair, his ears twitching to scare away a few butterflies flying around them. His golden eyes held a spark of stubborn fierceness she knew from the days of her life, but there was certain warmth he had once lacked. She smiled gently and nodded her head. "As you wish. I shall give you a map and a letter for her."

Two hours later Kagome found herself on Inuyasha's back, the gang moving fast away from the village to put as much distance between themselves and the town full of small sheds on chicken legs. Kaed and Kikyou were going to have a lot of work to spell the new woodden structures to lose their supernatural abilities and features. Kagome knew some of the villagers were already calling dibs on some of the sheds and feeding them splinters and overcooked rice to make them stay in their yards.

Kagome rested her cheek against Inuyasha's shoulder, smiling when he squeezed the backs of her knees in response. She looked at Kirara running beside them, easily keeping up to the hanyou with two adult people and a child on her back. Shippou was babbling excitedly about everything at the same time, obviously high on sugar. She could only hope he'd tire himself before the bedtime, she had no idea how to put to sleep an excited kitsune. While she was looking at her friends Shippou started waving to a couple of foxes who had joined the swarm of animals following Inuyasha. The fast pace had been set to try to prevent too many animals from following them - most of them would only run after the group for a few minutes before giving up and returning home.

When the sun set they stopped and quickly made a small camp, each one doing their usual chores - preparing beddings, making fire, collecting firewood and preparing food. While eating their supper everyone told the rest about their adventures, Kagome was trying to put all her fairytale knowledge to good use to predict who would play which role and how to act. The evening was pretty enjoyable, Kagome was telling some of the stories which came to her mind while listening to what had happened to her friends, everyone was laughing and even Inuyasha wasn't sulking up in a tree. He was sitting right next to her, stuffing his face with chips and laughing at some of their adventures.

Shippou fell asleep next to Kirara before that conversation was finished, soon after this a pack of wolves - luckily a normal ones - came to guard the cursed hanyou who growled at them in irritation, but didn't chase them away. It seemed Inuyasha was growing tired with all the wild animals in awe with his person and decided to ignore the animals instead of getting angry and shouting at them.

Kagome rewarded him for being so calm and not getting his frustration out on the wildlife by giving him a small kiss to his cheek and an extra cup of ramen. Miroku tried to tease the half youkai and got a free nap with a big lump on his head. Sango just shook her head and laid a wet clotch on Miroku's injury before calmly returning to brushing her hair.

So it were only Sango, Kagome and Inuyasha who greeted a small newcomer when they entered the circle of firelight. Inuyasha just looked at a small girl in pretty dress, holding a big basket of red apples. He didn't even move from his spot, indicationg that the newcomer wasn't a threat. The two young women smiled when they recognized them.

"Hello, master Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango!" she said happily and bowed politely. "Rin is really glad she found you!"

"Hi, Rin," Kagome offered a warm smile. "Is lord Sesshomaru around? Is he going to come see us?"

"No," Rin shook her head. "He is busy. But he sent Rin to give a gift to master Inuyasha." She looked at the hanyou.

"A gift?" Sango raised her eyebrows. "He doesn't look like one to give gifts to anyone."

"Oh, no, he gives presents to Rin," the girl said and put the basket before Inuyasha, who was finishing his chips.

"You can keep the fruits. Eat if you didn't already, knowing lord asshole he doesn't provide for you," Inuyasha shrugged.

"Thank you, master Inuyasha!" Rin gave a nod and sat down beside him. She reached for an apple and started eating. "Also Rin came to invite you all to her birthday party."

"Oh, that is so nice of you, Rin!" Sango smiled.

"Where and when the party is, Rin?" asked Kagome.

"In a week from today, in the Western Palace," Rin said after swallowing the first bite of her apple. Then, still smiling widely, she leaned against Inuyasha's side and dropped the fruit, her eys closed.

A/N: Oh, no, what happend to Rin?  
Okay, so I will try to update this story faster than I was doing it lately, because it seems I have to cut some of the planned chaqpters in half to keep them nice and not longer than 1,5 k words long.


	22. Only One

**Only One**

A/N: I went through the chap, so it's less messy (ugh, kill me, dysleksja and bad sight combo is killing me)

"Eh?" Inuyasha gasped in shock, looking down at the girl resting against his shoulder "Oi, girl!"

"Oh, goodness!" Kagome exclaimed and jumped to run to Rin's side. "How couldn't I realize it sooner!?"

"Wh-what's wrong?" Sango asked, worry in her eyes. Inuyasha looked from Rin to Kagome, his gaze quizzical. The miko rested her fingertips against the girl's pulse and sighed after a long minute of silence.

"The apples are poisoned," she explained. Sango gasped in shock.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha jumped to his feet and looked down at the little girl with her head in Kagome's lap. His ears drooped. "I let her eat..."

"Is she alive?" Sango knelt beside Kagome at the same time a small vial in her hand. "This can help against some of the poisons..."

Kagome gave the slayer a nod and looked at the hanyou standing over them.

"She's just asleep," she said. "Like Snow White after eating the apple. Inuyasha, do yo remember?" asked inquired. She couldn't look at the expression on his face, she had to assure him he didn't cause Rin's death. He blinked and looked at them again, Sango was carefully pouring the liquid from the vial between Rin's parted lips.

"She isn't waking up," he growled and squatted beside the women. Kagome brushed a few stray hair from Rin's forehead.

"There are two versions of this fairytale," the future-born miko said. "In one the poisoned princess was brought back by a kiss of a prince who fell in love with her..."

"The other was to remove the piece of apple from her mouth by shaking her," the miko finished. Inuyasha gave a short nod and grabbed Rin by her waist. Quickly he put the girl under his arm, her body hanging limply when he shook the child gently until the piece of apple fell to the ground.

Only then Inuyasha put Rin back between his two female companions.

"She isn't waking up," Sango said worriedly after a minute. Kagome was about to tell her it could take a whole but Inuyasha suddenly jumped to his feet, growling and facing away.

"You didn't eat the apples, half-breed. How disappointing," said a calm voice from the shadows and Sesshomaru walked from behind the treelike. Jaken was running after him, tripping over the hem of his dress.

"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha stood with his claws ready to strike. "You wanted to kill me!"

"Why is this one hearing surprise in the voice of this low creature, Jaken?" Sesshomaru asked the imp, who brushed away his beautiful golden locks.

"I am not sure, my lord," Jaken replied politely. "Maybe the sight of your power and beauty rendered his already weak mind even less capable of realizing you desire him dead." he added after a moment. Inuyasha rested his hand on Tessaiga's hilt, which caused Sesshomaru to growl lowly.

Kagome walked from behind Inuyasha and stood beside him, resting her fists on her hips.

"Why did you poison the apples?" she asked, her voice demanding answers.

"This Sesshomaru is the most powerful youkai, the only one worthy of wielding the mighty Tessaiga, the fang of this one's father," Sesshomaru replied. "Since the half-breed is holding it this one decided to relieve the world of the burden of him living and claim what is rightfully this Sesshomaru's heirloom."

"Dammit, not again!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "We were through that, bastard, you've got Tenseiga and I've got Tessaiga, get over it! You act like a spoiled kid!"

"How vile you are, lord Sesshomaru, to poison a child," Sango's soft voice came from behind the miko and the hanyou, stopping everyone before they could say anything. Kagome and Inuyasha turned back to look at Sango who was kneeling beside Rin and holding her little hand. "Poor kid, she was dragged in quarrels of youkai..."

Inuyasha's ears drooped. He could see Rin's chest rise with every breath, but she was still asleep. Kagome grabbed and squeezed his hand. Lord Sesshomaru approached the slayer and looked down at Rin, a small frown on his face. Then he looked up at Inuyasha.

"You feed her the apples, half-breed!" he said, stating the obvious. "Oh, how low of you to poison little kids! How could you do something like this while having Inu no Taisho's blood in your veins! Such a disgrace!"

"Me!?" Inuyasha cried. "It was you who poisoned the dumb apples!"

"And you were supposed to eat them, like a savage glutton you are, not give them to others! Not to Rin!" Sesshomaru knelt on the opposite side of Rin's body from Sango, ignoring his half brother. He took Rin's hand in his. "Oh, child, nothing was worth the cost of losing you, even Tessaiga."

Silence fell after those words, Sango looking in Sesshomaru's face while the rest was staring at the back of his head, even Jaken. This was the moment Miroku decided to wake up. He looked at the group looking at the sleeping girl and tilted his head while sitting up.

"What did I miss?" he asked, but no one seemed to be inclined to fill him in. On the contrary - Sesshomaru leapt to his feet, facing his younger brother.

"I shall slay you, filthy half-breed who took the life of my child!" he exclaimed and drew Tōkijin. Inuyasha had enough time to leap back, the daiyoukai following him with a fierce growl, so uncharacteristic to him.

"Oi!" Inuyaha unsheathed Tessaiga and blocked yet another attack, the fang of his father howling a song only canine youkai could understand. As the message from the long gone Inu no Taisho reached the ears of his sons both stopped mid-step and stared at it. Tenseiga at Sesshomaru's hip glowed that even people without spiritual abilities could see it.

"Rin isn't dead, idiot," said Inuyasha after a moment and shrugged when he saw surprise in Sesshomaru's eyes. "Sango gave her some slayer potion against poison. You didn't see her breathe? Some daiyoukai you are."

The second after this statement Sesshomaru's hand - still holding Tōkijin's hilt - kissed his nose and sent him sprawling on his back. Sesshomaru calmly sheathed the blade and walked back to Rin, ignoring the three humans gathered on her other side. He only glanced at Sango and offered her a small nod before unsheathing Tenseiga and focusing his eyes on Rin's face.

Kagome wished she could understand why Tessaiga told the brothers, Inuyasha was approaching from behind Sesshomaru, but didn't look like he wanted to continue the fight - nor did Sesshomaru, for some reason. Instead the hanyou walked around his brother and waved a hand at his friends.

"Move back," he said to them and they did as he wanted, standing up and rearing a few paces to give Sesshomaru space. The daiyoukai glanced at Inuyasha, but instead of saying anything he swept his sword in a strike which would cut a person in half. Sango and Miroku exclaimed in shock, but Inuyasha held them back by their clothes.

Rin blinked her eyes open and smiled softly.

"Lord Sesshomaru,"she said softly and smiled.

"You're alright," the daiyoukai said and rubbed her cheek with his fingertips. "This one is glad."

"And this one," Inuyasha spoke suddenly. "Wants to remind your prideful ass she's alright because of your own sword. And that it is your own fault for endangering your pack member. Now get lost. My pack needs sleep."

Kagome looked at Inuyasha, who had his arms folded in his sleeves, a mild scowl on his face as he was watching his brother. Sesshomaru picked Rin up in his arms after sheathing Tenseiga and gave a small nod to the group staring at him. Then he simply turned around and walked away, disappearing in the darkness. Jaken squeaked and ran after him while Rin waved a hand at them.

"Well..." Miroku said slowly. "I have no idea what happened, but

"The important thing is that Rin is okay," Sango said and looked at Inuyasha, who picked the basket and put it in the camp fire. The smell of burning apples filled the air.

"You, humans, go to sleep," he said and sat down beside Kagome's bedroll. 


	23. Miko Mariko

**Miko Mariko**

* * *

A/N: First of all - I'm posting a disclaimer. The amazing picture you can see as the cover of this fic is made by File 13 (u/6824964).  
i'm planning to finish this story in ca 15 chapters, but I don't want to put time frames on myself - it never ends well. So yeah. OST;s for Disney movies are oddly popping up on yt when I write it, so I'd suggest to listen to them while reading to get in the right mood.

* * *

The gang reached the village of their destination in a good time. Kirara changed back to her kitten state and sat on Sango's shoulder while the group resumed their walk down a hillside after standing on the edge of a forest for a while.

It was an enjoyable journey, in Kagome's opinion, beside the apples incident. They had had a short battle with a youkai who had wanted to take their jewel shards, but had been blasted by Sango's spiraling butterfly attack before Inuyasha had had a chance to unsheathe his sword. It had been good for Sango to blew some steam, because Miroku was growing quite attached to her lately. Or rather his hand was more often attached to her rear and Sango didn't appreciate it.

Kagome smiled at her female friend walking on her left and then glanced at her male friend who was separated from both girls by Inuyasha, who was holding Kagome's hand, claiming she was too clumsy to walk without tripping over something on the uneven path to the village. She knew he was lying, she could see a small smug grin on his face while he was telling Miroku to behave in the village or else.

The group quickly located the shrine where the miko friend of Kikyou resided. The villager who pointed the way to them was staring at the group of strangers followed by an escort of squirrels and bunnies, but decided to pretend he had seen nothing.

Meanwhile the gang reached a small hut, much similar to Kaede's from before it got chicken-ized. On a small bench in front of the house was sitting a plump old lady in attire everyone recognized as miko's garb. She lifted her brown eyes from a cup she was holding and looked at the approaching youths.

"Interesting." she said instead of a rather traditional greeting of "Aaa, youkai!" they were used to in such places. Still, her greeting earned her a scowl from Inuyasha, who was once again running his claws through his hair to shake off colorful flower petals. Kagome just reached up and put her flower crown in place before it could slid off her head.

"Greetings to you, miko Mariko. We traveler from a far village to seek your advice and we mean no harm to this village," Miroku stepped forward to take his usual role of speaker. After all he was the one who enjoyed the sound of his voice and his attire and honest face were the most suited for the job of making people friendly and not feel afraid of a bunch of strangers banded up with youkai.

That is - they were before Miroku himself became a a tanuki, what he realized when the miko smiled at him and raised an eyebrow.

"I am relieved to hear that," the miko took a sip from her cup and sighed. "Come, we shall talk inside."

With that she stood up and went inside. The gang looked at each other and followed. Wild animals looked longingly after Inuyasha's disappearing form and went away, only a few birds remained on branches of nearby trees.

Soon the names were exchanged, tea served and reasons for visit revealed. Mariko sat near Inuyasha and examined him - to everyone's surprise her version of examining was just staring like a hawk. Inuyasha got annoyed in three seconds and was about to insult the old woman just so she'd get angry and stop staring. Luckily Kagome was aware of his feelings and desires and rested her hand on his knee, distracting him long enough for the old miko to finish her examination.

"I shall meditate about the solution to your problem," Mariko decided. "You will come back tomorrow morning for my answer. For now I will lead you to a spare house - the family who had lived there moved to another village. You can stay there for the night. Besides it's close to a hot spring, if you want to bathe."

"Yaay!" Kagome jumped to her feet. "Thank you so much!"

"Sometimes I think you should've changed in that fish girl who traded her tail for legs," Inuyasha grumbled as he followed his friends. The empty hut was just a short walk away and soon the group was enjoying their stay in the village.

Well, almost everyone. Shippou and Kirara were playing with children, Kagome and Sango went to the hot spring and Inuyasha was sitting on the roof of the house, sulking. Miroku would usually go butt-hunting, but as a annuitant he wasn't as appealing as a handsome young man would be. Kagome and Sango were wondering when he would realize he could transform to his usual form just like Shippou and Hachi could take shapes of other people.

Time was passing slowly for a while, the village was peaceful and just a little wary of the strangers who were keeping their distance. But the period of peace ended when a big yellow thing fell from the sky and landed in front of the hut occupied by meditating Miroku and sulking Inuyasha. It was near the evening. Inuyasha looked down from the roof and saw the object change in a familiar shape of Hachi's body.

"Hello!" the annuitant called to the hanyou and walked in. Inuyasha followed him, looking at a big jug the annuitant was holding under his arm. Inside the hut Miroku was sitting by the fire.

"Hello, master Miroku! I heard about your condition and came to congratulate you for joining the great annuitant family!" Hachi exclaimed happily. "Master Mushin sends you this jug of special sake!"

Miroku was about to do something very rash to his friend, but the word 'sake' made him change his mind. Within a few minutes all three males were seated and Hachi was pouring sake to three cups. A half an hour later only Inuyasha had hands steady enough to do pouring since it turned out the sake was spiced to affect annuitant youkai the most. The hanyou hugged the jug to himself and growled at the two giggling annuitant demanding of him to return the container to them.

"No more sake for you, morons, you're already drunk!" he barked.


	24. Sudden Change

**Sudden Change**

* * *

"Did I hear sake?" Inuyasha looked back and saw miko Mariko standing in the doorway. She already had a cup in her hands.

"Good evening to you, miko!" Hachi greeted happily. "Inuyasha, pour the lady, she can't have her cup empty!"

"And when you're at it pour some us too," Miroku said and outstretched his hand in Inuyasha's general direction. Mariko chuckled and sat down beside Inuyasha, the hanyou growled at his youkai companions and poured the old woman.

"Sorry for the morons, they..." the hanyou stared at the miko who downed the cup of sake like it was nothing and moved it to the previous spot so he could refill it. She seemed to take it well, better than Inuyasha himself.

"Don't worry, hanyou, I intend to join them as soon as possible," she said with a wave of her hand.

Maybe her spiritual powers were aiding her? Inuyasha poured all three of his companions. He was sipping on his own sake and was silently watching his friends and the miko babble, stumble over words and discuss about the meaning of life, value of virtue, joys of a simple life and other important topics. He felt he was too sober to follow their logic, but luckily the jug was almost empty.

And that was when his bad luck struck again. A moment of losing control over his movements, a small slip of his hand while he was shaking the jug above Mariko's cup to shake the liquid out and...

Mariko blinked when the white light enveloped her. The hanyou was staring in horror at the third miko changed in a fairy because of his curse. This one had green wings, but otherwise her attire was similar to Kikyou's and Kaede's. Miroku and Hachi were staring at her waving wings while Mariko shrugged and downed her cup.

"Don't worry, Inu," she patted the hanyou on his forearm. "I'll turn back normal when the curse is lifted. Hehehe..."

"But..." Inuyasha started.

"Now I have an excuse to visit the Bunny," she grinned and when she saw confused faces around added: "Kaede. We were calling her Bunny when we all were younger." Inuyasha's a little fogged by sake mind provided the image of the old hag jumping around between cabbages. That almost made him sober again.

A hour passed and Inuyasha found himself sitting alone in the hot spring - Miroku and Hachi were already asleep so he had no one to keep him company - beside a bunch of wild animals playing happily around the spring. Kagome and Sango were probably making dinner. The hanyou sighed and finished his bath quickly - he was hungry and the thought about freshly made ramen was very appealing. He jumped off the spring, shook himself and ran down the path leading back to the village. He tried to focus on the good things - tomorrow morning he was going to learn what he had to do to be free.

He realized there was something very, very wrong when he tried to use his hand to push aside the mat covering the doorway of their hut. He looked at his hand and yelped in shock. He turned his head to look at the rest of his body - just to see white fur and four paws instead of legs and hands. The sound prompted someone inside to stand up and look outside to investigate the noise. Inuyasha looked up to see Kagome staring at him, her jaw dropped.

"I-Inuyasha?" she asked. His tail wagged and he nodded his head, his ears lowering in annoyance. The young miko stepped out from the hut and knelt in front of him, her hands running through the thick, white fur covering his cheeks and neck.

"You look like a mini Sesshomaru!" she exclaimed.

"Don't say that!" he growled and was relieved to hear that his words were actually real words, not a series of barks. Kagome smiled at him and tugged at one of his ears.

"Well, at least fairytale animals can talk," she said. "But I'm not sure it's a good thing in your case..." she teased.

"Oi, wench!" he tried to appear annoyed, but his tail was wagging like crazy and he couldn't stop it. He pressed his head against her stomach to hide his eyes from her and Kagome started to rub his back and he simply laid down, not really wanting to go inside just yet.

"It's okay, Inuyasha," she said in a soft tone. Inuyasha thought that she was just tired of all the weird stuff and had no energy to be really annoyed by them anymore. He most definitely was. He rested his head in her lap and inhaled deeply her scent. So far the only good thing that happened to him since the meeting with the five-tailed fox was that he was much closer with Kagome and they had confessed their feelings towards themselves. Maybe the curse was a blessing in disguise? On the other side almost all his friends, wild animals and enemies were changed and acting weird. "It will be over soon and everything will be normal again."

He sighed when he felt the last rays of sunlight disappear from his white fur. A shiver ran down his body, followed by a soft whine because Kagome lifted her hands from his back and shoulders and stiffened under him. He nudged her with his nose - hey, he was a dog right now, he was going to take full advantage of that! - to make her resume her petting.

"Inu-Inuyasha..."

"Are we interrupting?" came Miroku's amused question, followed by Sango's shocked gasp and Mariko's chuckling.

"It reminds me when I was young and beautiful and boys were throwing themselves at my feet..." Mariko sighed. Inuyasha glared at the monk and miko standing in the doorway - Sango was already gone inside. Shippou jumped on Miroku's shoulder and grinned his special wicked kitsune smile while Kagome reached to her throat and untied her cape to put it over Inuyasha's body. He looked up at her, frowning. Why was she covering him? He was a dog... Was he? He tried to move his tail.

Nothing happened.

Kagome was observing his puzzled expression change to shocked and then horrified one. It seemed he finally realized he was laying in her lap naked and very hanyou-shaped. In a matter of seconds his blush matched hers and he pulled the cape tightly around herself before assuming a more dignified pose and looking at the still amused trio in the doorway.

"So, Inuyasha..." started Miroku with a wide, happy grin. The world never learned what he wanted to say because Sango decided to drag him inside and prevent him from speak another word - probably saving his life.

A/N: Hard is the life of a cursed hanyou. And it's about to get harder.  
To answer some of your questions - Naraku's cursed as well - the curse influenced him via his pupped. And it affects his incarnations as well because they're connected to him. So brace yourself, the main bad guy of the story will not let our group of friends continue their quest peacefully for long. 


	25. Enchanted New Moon

**Enchanted New Moon**

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Kagome sighed when they left Mariko's village the next day. Miroku and Mariko were perfectly fine, but Hachi had to stay behind and rest some more after their evening of drinking. Miroku was walking in front of Kagome, rings of his staff ringing happily in the crisp air of the cloudy morning.

Sango was walking beside Kagome, carrying Kirara in her arms while Shippou was riding on Miroku's shoulder. Inuyasha was walking beside him, his tail lowered and his ears twitching in irritation. It had became clear after the sunrise that Inuyasha was now apparently changing forms - when the sun was up he was a large, fluffy akita, while during the night he was his usual hanyou self. The whole gang was stealing worried glances at the dog and a few birds who were riding on his back - it seemed he grew tired of shaking them off. Tonight was the night of the new moon and the group was worried what would the curse change in their friend.

Inuyasha himself seemed to be only annoyed by everything, which wasn't too different from his usual self.

They were headed to the village west from Mariko's. According to the old miko she was unable to break the curse, but she knew about an artifact that should be able to undo it. It was called Kitsune Cauldron and was kept in a kitsune village on the far northern west. The gang was going to make a few stops - one being the Western Palace where Rin's birthday party was going to happen in a few days.

The day went mostly uneventful. The group was moving pretty fast, for a change not being attacked by anyone and just chatting about stuff. After the lunch Shippou and Kirara got to ride on Inuyasha's back while Kagome was walking beside him. Kagome was enjoying herself, it was so nice to simply wander around for a change, without any dangerous youkai trying to attack.

It was close to the sunset when the group reached the village where they wanted to spend the night. Kagome and Sango were the ones who did talking this time, because Miroku, Kirara and Shippou were getting vary glances. Inuyasha, who was usually the receiver of such glances, was walking beside Kagome, his tail wagging lightly, indicating he found it amusing that the most cute and sweet talking members of the group were now treated like him.

It was when they settled in their rented room in an inn that the headman came to greet the youkai slayers. He told them about a vile dragon who was sometimes coming from the nearby mountain, demanding the village to pay for it to not destroy the fields. Sango offered to help the villagers by slaying the beast who was harassing the poor humans. Somewhere during the discussion Inuyasha stood up from his spot near Kagome, picked a red bundle in his jaws and went through an open shoji door leading to a garden hidden within the inn's walls. After a few minutes Kagome followed him and found a very human Inuyasha sitting with his back against a wall, fully dressed. They spend a while talking before the girl drifted into sleep, her head rested against his shoulder. Inuyasha dozed off a little, calmed by the presence of the woman he loved at his side.

When Kagome opened her eyes she was tied and laying on the ground in the center of the village square. To her left and right were two other girls - one of them being Sango and the other a stranger. Sango turned her wide opened eyes at Kagome and tried to struggle out of her bonds, but she seemed to be tied with extra care.

"What's going on? Let us go!" Kagome exclaimed, even if there seemed to be no one to hear her - the square was empty and there was only one torch bringing light in the darkness of the night.

"It's no use," said the other girl quietly. Both Kagome and Sango lookd at her - she was looking straight into the skies.

"What do you mean?" Sango asked, trying to look above Kagome's body to see the girl.

"Please, don't hold it against my people. We just don't want the dragon to drown our fields and wash away our homes," the girl requested in the same resigned tone. "The dragon will soon come and pick the prettiest of us to take with him. The rest will be free to go."

"But we promised to take care of the dragon!" Sango exclaimed. "We were going to slay it!"

"A pair of women, a few weak youkai and a dog are no match for the great Liungwai," said the voice of the headman from the darkness. A moment later the man stepped in the circle of the light.

"Please, release us!" Kagome managed to roll on her side.

"What did you do to our friends?" Sango demanded when the headman gently rolled Kagome to lay on her back again. He looked at both the girls with sad expression.

"They are sleeping. When the dragon finishes picking the ones who will be left behind will be free to go," he promised with a small nod. "We bear no ill will towards you, but... It's easier to offer a stranger for the picking than girls you know."

"What about her?" Sango asked and pointed with her at the third young woman.

"I am an orphan," the girl explained for the headman. "I'm doing it the third time and since you two are so pretty I think my chances of being here the fourth time are rather high."

Kagome felt youki approaching them fast from the direction of the mountain. She knew there was no help coming from the villagers who were probably hiding in the darkness. She closed her eyes and opened them when the ground shook under her. The first thing she saw was the hideous face of the most ugly dragon in the world. He had green scales and yellow fur was covering his spine, elbows, knees and the tip of his tail. His horns were sticking out from a yellow spike-like mane. He had three little eyes and his tongue was hanging from his mouth. When he folded his bat-like wings a wave of smell washed over the square, causing Sango to cough and the other girl to turn her head away. Kagome did the first thing that came to her mind.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed as loud as she could. There was no doubt the hanyou could hear her and came to her rescue in matter of seconds. Kagome knew he would battle practically everything to keep her safe. The moment the dragon laid all three eyes on her and Sango gasped in shock Kagome realized it was a great mistake. The dragon meanwhile was focused on inspecting Sango's looks after sparing a glance at the other girl who was calmly waiting for what was going to happen.

"Kagome!' came a second later and the young miko saw her savior jump in front of her, his voluminous sleeves and baggy hakama practically shielding her from view. He was already holding Tessaiga in his hand. A part of her felt relief upon seeing Inuyasha coming to her rescue, but a big piece of her was scared for his well-being - the dragon's youki was great.

"Oh, no," Sango and Kagome whispered at the same moment. Kagome could hear the villagers talk in the dark, but none dared to enter the square. Miroku and Shippou were shouting, trying to get past through the crowd.

The dragon smiled, all his sharp teeth visible when he arched his neck to see better everyone in the circle of light, including the girl behind the newcomer.

"Nice," he said, apparently pleased by what he saw. Inuyasha growled and shifted his stance, ready to attack.

"Inuyasha..." Sango started. The dragon gave a small nod, as if coming to a conclusion. He reached his clawed hand and grabbed his prize around the middle.

"Aaa!" shouted the captive in outrage while practically everyone else gasped in shock

"Pretty, silky black hair," the dragon rumbled after looking at the person in his clutches from a closer distance and taking a long sniff of their scent. "Big, cute brown eyes, nice face and body. You're perfect."

"I'm a guy!" roared the captive and tried to pierce the beast with his sword, but it was as useful as a stick right now. Kagome growled in a good impression of the hanyou.

"That's not a problem," the dragon assured Inuyasha and opened his wings with a loud snap. "The village fields are spared. For now"

And with those words he jumped in the air, quickly disappearing in the darkness of the moonless night. The echo of angry cursring of his prisoner could be heard for a few minutes before he flew far enough.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, struggling to get free and follow the dragon.

A/N: Kidnapped again. Who would expect that? What's going to happen to our heroes now?


	26. Robe for the Bride

**Robe for the Bride**

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A/N: I know I didn't post much lately, was sucked in a very long fic.

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True to their words the villagers let all the girls free. Soon the group was reunited, watching the light which erupted far in the sky.

"I guess the curse changed the dragon," said Miroku.

"Quickly! We need to follow him!" Kagome started pushing her friends to go and grab their things so they could leave. She picked up Tessaiga and caressed its hilt.

"I'll return you to your master," she promised and felt the sword hum softly in response to her words. Her friends returned in a few minutes and quickly they left the village - Sango, Shippou and Kagome on Kirara, the tanuki flying beside them in his purple bubble form. They were talking, trying to come up with a strategy for everything that could be waiting for them. They were moving fast, but it was already after the sunrise when they saw the entrance to the cave about which the villagers had told them.

They landed nearby and went to investigate the close proximity of the cave. It was messy and full of trash. Shippou was the one who went all the way to the entrance of the cave, scenting the air. Then he ran back.

"Guys! The dragon's away! Come quick!" he exclaimed, obviously no worried about being heard. The group quickly ran to him and together they walked in the cave.

The interior of the cave was dimly lit by a big fire burning in a fire pit under one of the walls. There was a huge pile of gold in a corner, encircled by boxes and chests full of various treasures. Miroku made a noise one could expect from a little girl seeing a pony and immediately ran in the direction of all this wealth.

"No!" Sango grabbed him by the collar of his robe and held him in place. "It's probably better not to touch anything."

"Good thinking," came a familiar voice from somewhere up one of the walls. Kagome looked up and saw Inuyasha in his dog form looking down at her from a big niche around twenty meters up from the floor. There were thick bars preventing him from jumping down. "Took ya long enough."

"I'm so sorry, Inuyasha, it is my fault you're..." Kagome started sorrowfully. It was her fault, she had called him and while he was unable to fight. But he still had come to stand between her and the danger.

"Oh, shut up and set me free before the dragon comes back." Inuyasha growled, turning his head sideways.

"Ah, I want to ask what did the curse to the dragon?" Miroku asked curiously when Sango on Kirara flew up to inspect the cage the dog was in. Inuyasha snorted.

"It looks the same," he said and sighed when he saw Sango tie a thick rope to one of the bars. "But it wants to marry me instead of just having me for dinner..." he started grumpily. Miroku snickered at his words. "Oi, quit laughin'!"

Shippou who was remaining by the mouth of the cave ran back to the group.

"Hide! He's coming back!"

Inuyasha let out a howl of despair and anger while his friends were running to hide behind various objects. It was partially to hide the sounds they were making. Only the rope hanging from the bar was an indication that the dog wasn't alone. A minute later the same dragon from before entered the cave and practically danced to the spot in front of Inuyasha's niche.

"Hello, my pretty one!" he greeted Inuyasha merrily. "Are you ready to marry me?"

"I'm a man, idiot!" barked the dog, baring his teeth at the much larger suitor. "And a cursed dog! And taken!"

Kagome could hear Miroku snickering to her right. She glared at him from behind her chest. Luckily the dragon was too focused on his unwilling bride to notice the faint sound and afteer taking a long sniff of the dog he smiled, presenting his own set of sharp teeth.

"Those obstacles I can easily take down, my darling," he promised. "You must know that gender can't stop true love and you don't smell taken to me. And for you being a dog... Here, a robe worthy of my bride" he produced a length of folded fabric and carefully unfolded it before draping it oveer the growling dog who had nowhere to run. A flash of light blinded Kagome for a second as she jumped from behind her chest, wanting to run to help the hanyou. It seemed someone was faster.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango was standing on top of a big box, her attack hitting the back of the dragon's head. The beast roared in pain and turned around to face the sudden attacker, his clawed hand reaching for the fragile looking woman.

"You!" he growled with fire spilling from his mouth. Luckily for Sango Miroku was close enough and when the girl dodged the claws the tanuki transformed in a bubble and caught the slayer before lifting her up, away from the flames which burned the area a second later. The dragon noticed a movement to his left ad Kagome gulped when she saw his eyes focusing on her. Frantically she tried to notch an arrow, but she knew she hadn't enough time. The same moment her friends exclaimed in fear for her safety and she saw the flames fly her way something red covered her vision and she stumbled back and to her knees in an attempt to get away.

"Blades of Blood!" she heard from a close distance, followed by a cry of pain. When a small clawed hand tugged at the red fabric covering her and emerald worried green eyes of Shippou looked at her Kagome grabbed the kitsune and hugged him, discarding her bow and arrow. Shippou hugged her tightly, relief filling her heart. Once more a certain someone saved her from a certain death. Kagome peeked from under the fire rat to see Miroku putting Sango on the ground a second later. The slayer ran to her best friend who offered her a warm, reassuring smile.

"Kagome, are you alright?" Sango knelt beside her.

"Yeah," she nodded and looked around for her savior. "Where's Inuyasha?" she asked innocently. Sango blushed hotly while Miroku who stood behind her snickered and pointed up.

"Dressing."

An hour later the group left the cave, much richer and in better moods. Miroku was walking beside Inuyasha, both males following the girls. Inuyasha had the violet material folded and wrapped around his waist.

"Who would think that the dragon would supply us with a Celestial Robe," Miroku marveled.

"I'm sure it's stolen," Inuyasha grumbled, obviously still unhappy that majority of his friends had seen him in the Robe only. Kagome stole a glance at Sango blushing again and sighed, she'd really like to be the only one seeing that view.

"It's good we have it now," Shippou said and looked from his spot on Kagome's shoulder to the two males behind them. "Now you don't need to be a dog during the day!"

"Yeah," Inuyasha shrugged. It was almost worth all that had happened the last night.

Kagome looked at him and smiled at him. He smiled back, happy that she was unharmed and that they were back on their way to the fox pot. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling their journey wasn't going to be a boring one.

.

Far, far away a group of seven men was marching down a road, singing - well, majority of them was singing.

"Hey-ho, hey-ho, where Naraku says we go!" 


	27. Red Embroidery of Fate

**Red Embroidery of Fate**

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Kagome was preparing the sleeping rolls for everyone, Shippou was building the fire - he was learning to do it right and all by himself - and murmuring to himself while placing every little twig on the pile. Sango was filling the water bottles in the river flowing near the foot of the hill and Miroku was gone on a patrol around their campsite, looking if it was safe. Inuyasha was fishing with Kirara - the hanyou was standing in knee-deep water and sweeping his hands at fishes swimming around, sending them on a short flying trip to the bank where Kirara was guarding them so they couldn't jump back. He was using only one hand, wrapped thickly with Kagome's ruined shirt, because the first fish he had caught with his bare hands bad begged him to be freed and had promised to grant him three wishes. He had told her to go to hell and had thrown her back in the river, because there was no way they'd eat a talking fish.

It was the evening of the second day after the new moon. During that time Kagome and company had tested their friend's new robe. It was made from a soft, delicate purple fabric with red embroidery depicting cherry blossoms - a cloth more fitting a maiden than a warrior. It seemed it could undo only the spring's spell, because the curse was still working, no matter if he had the robe on or not. There were still herds of wild animals observing Inuyasha with admiration or trying to adorn him with flowers and feathers. He was even more reluctant to touch people - even those already cursed. Kagome would probably be unhappy about it, but it turned out this rule didn't apply to her. Her hanyou wasn't an affectionate prince charming, but he was a little more open after their talk in the well, she could easier understand what he was trying to verbalize. They were slowly, slowly moving forward - she could notice small things change: like they were sitting closer to each other than before, he was more trusting and she more patient. There was not much time to get intimate, especially with Miroku around, but Kagome hoped that their relationship was growing with every passing day.

Kagome stood up after finishing her work and looked in the direction of the river to see Inuyasha and Sango walking side by side up the hill in the last sun rays, Kirara running in the tall grass with her dinner in her mouth, still wiggling. Soon Miroku joined them and everyone watched Shippou lit the fire while Inuyasha and Sango were preparing the fish sticks. Kagome and Miroku made tea and rice to go with the fish. They were patiently waiting for their food to get ready, but Inuyasha stood up as soon as everyone started talking about Shippou's fire-building skills.

"Going to bathe," he said and glanced at Miroku, who shook his head. "Okay. Try not to get attacked while I'm gone, I won't take long."

The group resumed talking and Kagome was enjoying herself, but after a few minutes he felt uneasy and glanced back in the direction of the thick bushes and trees covering the part of the river bank where her hanyou was bathing - it was taking longer than usual and the feeling of uneasiness only grew when she realized it. Kagome stood up and realized she was walking in the direction of the river when a curious voice reached her ears.

"Kagome? Where are you going?" Sango asked. The miko looked back at her friends and blushed lightly. Miroku grinned in amazement.

"I knew I wasn't alone!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"What do you mean?" Shippou tilted his head.

"Lady Kagome's going to get a good look at our hanyou friend," Miroku grinned. "Make sure he can't smell you!"

"I'm not!" Kagome denied his assumption, her cheeks red like tomato.

"Miroku!" Sango blushed at the mere reminded of looking at Inuyasha - she already had seen more of his skin than she'd like.

"Or you can join him!" Miroku added after Kagome, who refused to return to the camp and suffer his teasing while trying to explain herself. She heard Sango hit Miroku on the head with something heavy and Shippou mutter about crazy adults to Kirara. She felt something was wrong and she was going to just check on her friend, not spy on him like a pervert. It was Miroku who had taught her to believe in her intuition and her intuition was telling her to sort things with her friends later and go to Inuyasha now.

To her surprise no cute animal appeared to stop her when she reached the thick cover of leaves and branches. She was half-expecting that Inuyasha's admirers were going to protect his privacy. To her it was a sign that she should continue. She walked between the trees carefully and soon was on the other side of the little forest. She was about to call Inuyasha - she wasn't here to sneak on him, but to make sure he was fine. But when she opened her mouth she saw a woman standing nearby, looking at Inuyasha, who was standing in the river, fully dressed and with his new sash still wrapped around him.

Sighing in relief that the hanyou was decent she turned to look at the woman. She had long black hair and beautiful silver-colored kimono adorned with cherry blossoms and cranes. She had an intricate silver head ornament resembling a crescent moon with little diamonds adorning its surface and reflecting the evening light. When the woman looked back at her Kagome saw the most beautiful face, round and delicate, with big blue eyes and red lips.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha's voice was full of alarm and relief at the same time. The hanyou reached her side in a few jumps and stood - oddly - behind her, his hands gripping her shoulders.

"I was worried and came to see you if you're okay," Kagome explained herself, puzzled by his actions. "Who is this lady?" The woman focused her eyes on Kagome and tilted her head, her silver and diamond earrings shaped like stars swaying gently.

"I am the bride of this man," she said, her voice like twinkling bells.

"You ain't, you crazy woman!" Inuyasha growled from behind a very confused Kagome.

"Of curse I am," the woman smiled softlt, her eyes as calm as the sky above their heads. "You have my robe, so we're bound by law to get married."

"Um," Kagome started. "How can you tell it's yours?" she asked the - apparently - celestial maiden standing on the edge of the water.

"Simple. I embroided it myself," the woman gave a small gesture of her hand and with the corner of her eye Kagome caught a faint red glow coming from the cherry blossoms embroidered on the sash currently around Inuyasha's waist.

A/N: Inu's naked. Again. Consider this a repayment for all the times he got to see Kagome naked in canon. And look, another person wants to marry Inuyasha... It's not his fault he's such a cute little princess ~cackles~ The last time Inu got his form back and with Sango's attack had a chance to protect himself, but now it seems all he has is Kagome... Will she save her hanyou? Or will he marry the strange lady?


	28. Sappy Story of Puppy

**Sappy Story of Puppy**

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A/N: If stuff goes according to my plans you'll get the next Forest Spirit chapter this week. And most definitely The Great Detective will be updated too. And - if we're lucky - there will be the first chap of my other story (thankfully this one's already finished so updates will be regular)

* * *

Fifteen minutes after going to fetch Inuyasha Kagome led him and the celestial maiden to the camp - the former was staying close to Kagome and the latter eyeing their joined hands with serene, indifferent expression on her beautiful face.

"Oh, goodness!" Sango exclaimed when she took in the sight - Kagome looking like she had a headache, Inuyasha in dripping clothes and a strange woman in an outfit of a princess.

"Heavens sent us a beautiful lady to sweeten our time!" Miroku clasped his hands and went to greet the lady. He grabbed her delicate hands and gave her his most charming smile. "Would you bear my child?"

Sango growled and grabbed her huge boomerang, but the woman's clear voice stopped her.

"I shall only bear children of my husband Inuyasha," she stated with dignity.

"Quit staring at me like that!" Inuyasha barked at all his friends, still holding Kagome's hand. "She ain't my wife! I wouldn't have a wife, idiots! Youkai have mates! And she ain't my mate!" then he glared up a tree limb where a pair of squrrels were throwing flower petals at him. "Stop that, furry assholes!"

The squirrels made a few cute squirrel noises and fled to a hole in the tree bark. Kagome sat down on folded bedroll, prompting the hanyou to follow.

"This is lady Hei, a celestial maiden," Kagome introduced and the woman bowed her head lightly. She sat on Inuyasha's other side, much to the hanyou's discomfort. He glared at the woman who peacefully put her hands on her knees and looked around.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," she said when everyone was introduced to her.

"We don't have much, but please, share a meal with us," Sango said, trying to be hospitable, even if their food was painfully simple to a heavenly woman. Kagome smiled when she saw her friend handing lady Hei a fish on a stick and a bowl of rice. She grabbed her own portion of food from Miroku's hand and when everyone started to eat she decided to start their talk.

"As you know lady Hei is a celestial maiden and as such wears a celestial robe. Hers was stolen two nights ago, when she was taking a bath in a spring," she saw Miroku's eyes mist over and Sango's brow twitch at the look on his face. "So she was unable to return home."

"The law says I must marry the one who stole my robe," the maiden said and looked at Inuyasha who almost choked on a piece of fish. "At least my future husband is not a hideous beast, but a handsome young man." The lady smiled at the hanyou whose cheeks turned pink.

A silent growl could be heard in the camp - and it seemed Inuyasha wasn't the source of this sound, it was the petite miko at his side. Inuyasha looked at her with pleading eyes, but the observes were unsure if he wanted to calm her or ask for saving. Miroku cleared his throat.

"It is true that our friend Inuyasha wears a celestial robe, but I can assure you, noble lady that he didn't steal it," said the monk with his most calm and convincing voice

"That doesn't matter - he has it," the lady replied softly. "I am oath-bound to follow the law."

"But how can you tell it's yours?" asked Shippou.

"I ornamented it myself and the stitches bear a spark of my power," she waved a hand in Inuyasha's direction and the red pattern started to glow again. "See? And he has it, so no matter if I want it or not I must marry him and be his faithful and submissive wife." She turned to look at the hanyou. "Now, my lord, say your farwells, so we can leave."

Shippou giggled when he saw the panicked expression on Inuyasha's face. The hanyou practically tore the robe from around himself and deposited it in lady Hei's lap.

"Here!" he barked. "I ain't marrying ya, crazy wench! I already have a wench I wanna mate and it ain't ya!"

"Inuyasha..." Kagome smiled up at the hanyou who wrapped an arm around her waist. The firelight illuminating the scene somehow formed a rainbow above their heads and the squirrels returned with more flower petals to dump on the couple. This time Inuyash didn't growl at them. He was so happy he managed to make his miko calm down before being sat. Meanwhile Sango choked on something and spat it on her hand. She stared at it in surprise. Miroku got distracted by his love's actions and they both distracted something from the bite of fish cupped in her hand. The lady ran her hand over her robe in a gentle caress.

"It holds the warmth of your body, my lord," she said softly, a small smile forming on her lips. Shippou snickered when he saw Kagome's anger resurface and Inuyasha's face turn pale when he looked at the maiden in horror.

"You have your robe back, keep your hands away from my hanyou," Kagome wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's waist in a possesive way. The hanyou nodded mutely. A small smile formed on his lips when he realized Kagom considered him hers and wasn't ashamed to voice her claim.

"I am sorry, miko Kagome. The law is the law," lady Hei sighed. "I feel bad for you, since you'll lose your dear friend, but I must marry him. He will join me in my heavenly palace and live away from the mundane world, away from the worries of this land. I am sorry, but he won't be returning to meet you all. This is the only way."

"But you can't!" Kagome was thinking fast, trying to find a way out of this situation. She couldn't let lady Hei take Inuyasha away! "He's taken!"

"Taken?" asked lady Hei, her eyebrows raised. "How can it be? Why did you take and wear my robe if you are already taken?" she asked the hanyou staring at Kagome. He blinked a few times.

"I didn't take it!" Inuyasha growled, not looking away from Kagome's face. The miko would pay a lot of money to know what was running through his head.

"He got cursed." Shippou filled the celestial maiden in because no one of the adults seemed to be inclined to do this. "He got cursed even more and is changing in a dog during the day. He got kidnapped by a dragon. The dragon wanted to marry him so he stole your robe because when Inuyasha wears it he keeps his normal form."

The celestial maiden looked up to the hanyou-miko couple for confirmation, they both nodded.

"It's the short version of the story," Kagome said. "We didn't mean to keep you away from the heavens."

"And I ain't gonna marry ya," Inuyasha added to make sure she knew it. The woman tilted her head.

"If you are taken... Where's your mating mark?" she asked. Inuyasha instantly went from pale to tomato red and Kagome blinked in confusion.

"I believe this step is still before out friends," said Miroku with a spark in his eye. The celestial maiden touched her chin as if trying to remember something. "But I can assure you they are promised to each other."

"Do humans not give their promised ones pieces of jewelry to symbolize their future bonds?" asked the maiden, her big, expressive eyes sweeping over the couple beside her. Kagome bit her bottom lip - she had to think fast to save her hanyou. Inuyasha growled under the scrutiny, but they couldn't do anything about the lack of jewelry on them - all they had was Inuyasha's kotodama and it was hardly a piece of jewelry.

When Kagome thought about the beads an idea came to her mind. She waved her hands and caused the celestial maiden to look back at her. She could see the woman was cautious of their assurances that they were an item. And since they were not only before the marriage step in their relationship, but betrothal as well...

"We have a sign that we're promised." the miko said and - to Shippou and Miroku's amusement, and Sango's shock - she latched herself to Inuyasha's collar. The hanyou stared down at the usually shy miko who tore his kimono open and stared at his bare chest. A blush started to spread across Inuyasha's face when lady Hei covered her face with her sleeve.

"Ah! Bare male flesh!" she exclaimed in a maidenly embarrassment, but peeked at the hanyou from above her sleeve.

Inuyasha didn't notice the audience's reaction to Kagome's action, he was staring with wide eyes at the glaring miko practically sitting in his lap, her hands gripping at the folds of his robes pushed to his sides. The squirrels above decided to add something of their own and threw some more flowers at the couple. The first rays of the rising moon iluminated the scene, making it more serene and otherworldly.

"Inuyasha..." started Kagome when she stopped glaring at his chest and looked straight in his eyes. "Where's the pendant I gave you?"

"K-Kagome..." Inuyasha swallowed. "I... You know, when the dragon grabbed me and flew with me..." his ears drooped when Kagome nodded, encouraging him to continue. "The string broke when we were flying above a... a river... Don'tsitme!" he finishd without taking a pause to breathe, not wanting Kagome to say his most hated word.

Kagome looked back at his chest, at the vacant spot where Inuyasha's pendant should be. To Inuyasha's utter horror she didn't sit him. She didn't look angry anymore, she looked sad. It was worse than angry Kagome, he could deal with angry Kagome anytime.

"So... What exactly is this thing?" asked the heavenly woman when Kagome pulled the folds of Inuyasha's robe more or less back in place.

"A pendant. A golden locket with out pictures," Kagome said with her head bowed. Inuyasha put an arm around her and pulled her closer in a reassuring hug. Kagome was sure he was already thinking up strategy to defeat a celestial maiden with her robe on. 'It will be like Princess Kaguya, only this one doesn't have a mirror to trap Inuyasha's human heart...'

"From what I see," said lady Hei. "It looks like my future lord is not very willing to join me in the holy matrimony," Kagome turned around in Inuyasha's lap, both looking at her calm face. She looked much like Sesshomaru, her features held the same perfection of shape and color whole holding no emotions. Yet there was still a certain warmth and softness Inuyasha's brother was lacking. "I don't really understand it, any other man would be thrilled to marry me or one of my sisters. I am fair, I can grant my lord's every wish, I am not lacking in any way."

"You ain't my chosen," Inuyasha pinned his ears back and scowled at her, but she ignored him.

"And you, miko Kagome, as a kind person and a good friend, are trying to save your friend from the fate he is going to share, because he wishes to fight his destiny. So you tried to pretend you are betrothed so I couldn't marry him," the lady smiled softly. "It would be against the law to part those whose fates are already tied together. Yet there is no proof beside your word and I, even if inclined to, cannot believe a word of a mortal."

Sango coughed, but no one seemed to notice. The miko was about to say something, the hanyou was about to do something and the celestial maiden was sitting calmly, holding her robe in her delicate fingers. The three observers of the scene decided to cut in before someone - namely Inuyasha - could do something rash or say something insulting. The slayer believed that this situation could be resolved without violence.

"Lady Hei..." Sango said slowly, drawing their attention to herself. She was sitting with her fish in one hand and her other hand cupped around something. "I am sorry for interrupting, but I think you would like to look at this."

She offered her hand to the celestial maiden. Kagome saw something golden twinkle from under bits of fish. Lady Hei raised an eyebrow, causing Sango to blush. But before the slayer could move her hand back Miroku came to the rescue and extracted the golden object from between the bits of food.

"I found it in my fish," Sango explained herself while cleaning her hand. "I almost swallowed it."

Meanwhile Miroku put the object in his own tea cup, rinsing it before wiping it with a piece of cloth and presenting to the lady again. Kagome and Inuyasha both gasped in surprise.

It was a small golden locket.

"I think the fate wants those two to be together, since it came to long lengths to bring this back to them," Miroku said and opened the locket, revealing the pictures of the hanyou and the miko. Lady Hei leaned in to inspect the pendant. She gave a soft sigh and then bowed her head lightly to the whole group.

"It seems your story is true. I am sorry I didn't believe you," she turned to Kagome and Inuyasha. "Many humans try to lie to us and we are taught to never believe a stranger without a proof."

"It's okay," Kagome was fast to forgive the insult of doubting her honesty. She snatched the pendant from Miroku's palm, put it on a cord pulled from her backpack and approached Inuyasha with the goal to put it on him again.

"No, wench!" Inuyasha jumped back. "I'm not wearing stuff Sango spat!"

"Hey! Was I supposed to swallow it?" Sango growled.

"You're going to! And you'll be proud of it!" exclaimed Kagome at the same time. Shippou looked at Miroku, Miroku looked at lady Hei and the lady looked at the hanyou trying to escape two young women - one of which sat him when he was running down the hill.

"Let's resume our meal," suggested Miroku.

"Yeah!" Shippou, who had finished his fish already, grabbed Inuyasha's stick and started munching at the food, thinking it was only fair for him to eat Inuyasha's food since he was usually eating Shippou's.

No one of the whole group noticed a soft white light coming from Kagome's backpack where another story appeared on pages of a binder.

A/N:Phew, this took long! And it's the longest chapter in this story so far. I'm not entirely fond with this chap, maybe I'll do some rewriting it later, what do you thin?  
The next chapter we're going to go for a ball, so prepare your best robes and don't forget your invitations! The Princess of the Western Lands invites you all for her birthday party! 


	29. Rin's Ball Begins

A/N: If you want I can add a chapter where I post the list of all the fairy tales (and stories from which are only certain motifs) I put in this story so you can see how many you noticed, if you are interested.

* * *

 **Rin's Ball Begins**

* * *

Kagome looked at the castle looming over their heads. After days the gang reached the Western Castle. Inuyasha was standing beside her, a squirrel sitting on top of his head, between his twitching ears and playing with the cloth tying his high ponytail.

When lady Hei had decided to leave for the heavens she had gifted Inuyasha with a piece of her robe, torn from the heavenly garment. To Kagome's annoyance the celestial maiden had placed the piece of cloth in his clawed hand and had pressed a chaste kiss to his - suddenly very red - cheek. The hanyou had jumped back and tried to say something, but the lady had already ascend, her smile hidden behind a sleeve. As it turned out the small strip of robe was enough to keep Inuyasha's hanyou form in the sunlight, so after a moment of anger Kagome had forgave the other female for kissing the hanyou.

"Impressive," Miroku expressed the opinion of every human's in the group.

"Feh," Inuyasha voiced the opinion of every hanyou. Shippou snickered.

"Big dog house," he voiced his own opinion from Kagome's shoulder and earned Inuyasha's snort. The group looked for a while longer at the great structure spreading to both sides near a lake. A few roe deers were playing nearby, but the group was already so used to having animal companions, that they stopped noticing them. The Western Castle was a very big structure, shining among the woods embracing it from behind and both sides. Inuyasha led them towards the gate, widely opened for the arriving guests.

An hour later Kagome and her friends were entering the huge ball room located on the eastern side of the castle. The servant who was their guide looked for the last time at Inuyasha with an unreadable expression before bowing - mostly to the shocked hanyou - and leaving them, all of this without a word. Shippou and Miroku shrugged and made their way towards a bunch of tables with food. Sango looked after them and sighed when the monk-turned-tanuki started talking to a fox youkai female standing nearby. The group followed them - it was better to stick together. Kagome held Inuyasha's hand, looking around with awe and anxiety.

The ball room was huge, elegant and full of expensive decorations. The guests were mostly youkai, a few humans who were here were gathered in one corner, looking at the mass of various youkai walking, talking and drinking as if there was no one else beside them in the room. Every one of them looked unique, dressed in rich robes, with unrealistic hair styles and colors. Many had animal features and Inuyasha's ears weren't standing out. Still, the gang drew some attention. Kagome could hear bits of whispered comments about a miko and a hanyou, a few even calling Inuyasha Inu no Taisho's second son. Shippou, Kirara and Miroku gained practically no attention while Sango was puzzling the rest of the guests a little - she didn't have her slayer outfit after all. Kagome was sure that many youkai wanted to make Inuyasha and herself leave. According to words of one of the servants they had met on their way to the ballroom fighting was prohibited in the castle. Still, there was no telling what the youkai would do after exiting it. For now the gang was pretty safe, getting only some more or less nasty comments whispered among some of the guests or cold glares. Nothing Inuyasha's group couldn't handle.

Sango was telling Kagome what type of youkai were particularly odd looking guests, Inuyasha was glaring around and Shippou and Miroku were helping Sango broaden Kagome's knowledge about other occupants of the ballroom when they heard Jaken's shouts for a little girl to stop running. A moment later they hears another voice:

"Master Inuyasha!" Kagome looked back and saw Rin running towards them, her vibrant pink kimono sleeves waving as she dodged various youkai, Jaken in blue kimono following after her. "Lady Kagome! Lady Sango and lord Miroku! And Shippou and Kirara! Rin is so happy you came!"

She came to a stop just in front of the gang and smiled happily when Kagome reached and pushed a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. Inuyasha gave a small nod.

"Keh, yeah, we did," he confirmed. Then he did something strange - he reached behind one of his forelocks and produces from there a small grey squirrel. The animal sat calmly in his cupped hand when the hanyou offered it to the girl. "Just don't squeeze him."

Kagome gazed in a pleased surprise at the little animal jumping to Rin's shoulder and the big smile on her face when it remained there when she reached a gentle finger to stroke its tail. When Inuyasha saw everyone - including his pack members - looking at him with puzzled faces he put his hands in his sleeves and shrugged.

"What? It's her birthday party and I have tons of these little brats running around," he mumbled awkwardly.

"Thank you, master Inuyasha!" Rin hugged his leg. "Rin's going to show lord Sesshomaru her new friend! She's going to call him Fluffy!"

Startled hanyou let her run away after this sudden act of affection. Kagome smiled at him and gave an appreciating nod when she heard Shippou theatrical whisper.

"I thought Fluffy was Sesshomaru's second name," said the little fox to the tanuki who almost choked on a rice ball he was chewing on.

A/N: Happy New Year, guys!  
And happy me, cuz I survived The Unluckiest Day of the Year aka my birthday which was a couple of days ago.  
I know that's not much going on in this chapter, but I promise you there's some action in the upcoming chapter - it seems when I drafted the story I forgot that it's a little hard to squeeze very much action in 2k-words-top long chapters.I hope this cahapter is okay...

But, hey, we have a ball, what's can go wrong now? Guess which fairytale's going to appear in Kagome's binders now? 


	30. The Gifts

A/N: Sorry for being slower, I kinda got sucked in a long fic.

* * *

 **The Gifts**

* * *

An hour later the gang found themselves stuffed with Sesshomaru's food and sitting against a wall near the raised part of the ballroom. They would have a great view of the daiyoukai who was still not around. Rin was cheerfully running around, Jaken hot on her heels, ducking between groups of youkai and humans.

The gang was resting and talking pretty peacefully - the youkai were reluctant to approach because they could sense spiritual power wielders in their group and also because no one wanted others to see them talking to a hanyou. Humans, on the other hand, didn't want to approach two strangely dressed women accompanied by a bunch of youkai. It was fortunate for the gang because this way they didn't have to worry about someone touching Inuyasha and getting cursed.

Kagome was the first one to admit, that after some adjusting to the big crowd of people and the grandness of the ballroom, it was pretty fun to be there. Rin was visiting them from time to time while making her rounds around the room, cheerful and kind as always. It was nice to simply regain their strength before resuming their journey.

Suddenly Sesshomaru joined the gathering. He entered the raised floor and stood there, dressed in white and red kimono, his fluff swaying lazily as he was looking at his guests. Rin ran to his side, followed by Jaken grumbling something under his breath.

"This one," said Sesshomaru as his cool gaze swept across the suddenly silent room. "Invited you to this one's daughter's birthday party. This one allows you to offer her your gifts."

After this short speech the daiyoukai walked to a pillow to sit and observe everyone approaching Rin, who was standing in the center and accepting gifts which were carried by Jaken to a corner to be disposed of later. Kagome dragged Inuyasha and the rest of the gang to wish Rin well on her birthday, since their gift was already sitting on the girl's shoulder. To their surprise Sesshomaru gestured for them to come to his side. When the group did and sat in front of him the daiyoukai looked straight at his brother.

"This one knows about your curse, little brother," he stated and raised a brow when he heard a gasp from Inuyasha's group. "This one talked to the mikos who are your allies and they explained why the monk from your pack is a tanuki. Beside other changes."

Inuyasha growled when Sesshomaru's eyes slid over the flowers braided in his tail of hair and a small sparrow sitting on his shoulder.

"Um..." started Kagome. "You were... Touched by the curse... May I ask in which way it influenced you?"

Sesshomaru was quiet for a minute.

"This one felt as if a couple... cravings were battling inside my mind," he said slowly. "The first one died when this one followed his craving of beheading people for no real reason."

'Queen of Hearts,' Kagome memorized the character while the rest was listening to the daiyoukai.

"The other grew in strength and this one sent Rin to poison his half brother to claim Tessaiga and see him dead. It died when Rin awoke from her sleep," golden eyes looked above their heads to Rin happily accepting a shamisen from a swan youkai. "Now the only one left wants this one to be a good ruler, just, caring for the land, the people and Rin. This one doesn't like that there's a curse upon his person, especially because he is unable to free himself or predict if he won't be following a different... craving." Sesshomaru finished.

Kagome was about to ask about those 'cravings' when the door of the ballroom opened and three new guests stepped in. Or rather flew in. On transparent wings, shedding glitter as they went, three miko godmothers flew above the crowd to land in front of the surprised girl. Kaede winked her one eye at the gang while Kikyou smiled softly, Mariko simply grinned. All three had wands in their hands.

"We, miko godmothers," said Kaede. "Came to grant three gifts to ye, child."

"May the other guests be assured that, though we are mikos, no charm will come to them as long as there is no hostility and violence," added Kikyou as she cast a glance back, at the youkai.

"Let's get to it!" Mariko waved her wand. "I, miko Mariko, bestow on you the gift of great health. No illness will overcome you. No hangover will cloud your head the next morning. No flu will stop your wandering."

A spray of sparks sprang from her wand to cover Rin. The girl gave an awkward, uncertain smile, but after looking to Sesshomaru she smiled more widely. "Thank you good lady."

"Three... gifts..." Miroku looked down at muttering Kagome, who had her eyes glued to the door instead of the mikos with fluttering wings.

"I, miko Kaede," the second elderly woman said. "Grant ye the gift of beautiful singing voice. May it always carry far and sweet, may your songs make even the coldest hearts weep. May your laughter make the world a brighter place."

Again Rin was covered in glittering lights. She gave a small bow. "Thank you, granny Kaede!" Kagome gripped Inuyasha's wrist and caused him to look at her in surprise.

"Just about..." Kagome whispered.

"I, miko Kikyou..."

"...Now!" Kagome's voice was drowned in the sound of the huge door opening and hitting the wall. A lone figure stood in the threshold. It was wrapped in a baboon pelt.


	31. Malevolent Spel

A/N: Ooops, it looks like I forgot about this fic for a long time!

* * *

 **Malevolent Spel** l

* * *

"Kukuku," laughed the newcomer. He walked in, not looking away from the people gathered on the front of the raised floor. Youkai and humans moved back, making a wide aisle for the newcomer to walk, all of them scared, disgusted or simply surprised. A bunch of bats flew in after the newcomer and danced around near the ceiling, shrieking in the fallen silence. Clouds of purple smoke followed his steps, swirling behind his back, flowing from under the hem of his pelt. The three miko godmothers quickly started to swipe their wands, trying to ward the miasma away from the guests.

"What are you doing here, Naraku? No one invited you here," Sesshomaru rose to his feet, looking mildly annoyed that the dark hanyou came to disturb Rin's celebration. Naraku looked at the daiyoukai and stopped halfway between the door and the little girl who was looking at him with big, frightened eyes.

"Indeed, no one invited me," Naraku agreed.

"Then go the fuck away!" Inuyasha exclaimed with his usual tact. Kagome gripped the hanyou's hand, her eyes focused on Naraku, who didn't even look their way.

"And here I was, hoping to get an invitation, planning what to give the little princess of the West..." he continued. "And even if you didn't invite me, Sesshomaru, I shall show you my good will and bestow a gift..."

"No!" Kagome cried. "You can't! Inuyasha didn't touch you, you shouldn't act this way!"

This time Naraku turned to look at Kagome and smiled widely. Of course no one could see it because he was still wearing his mask.

"And here you are wrong, little miko."

And then the dark hanyou broke in a song, explaining to everyone in the room how he had been just a simple vile spider hanyou, doing his own nasty business, trying to kill his enemies with no mercy. But then everything changed when he had sent a puppet to attack a lone inu hanyou running to catch a fleeing miko. A slash of the hanyou's claws and the pupped had been destroyed. What went wrong this time? Naraku wasted a bunch of verses just to explain that his brilliant plans that shouldn't fail were usually failing. Some of the listeners gave the singing hanyou pitying glances. Then Naraku, his voice growing higher in pitch, described how a strange light that had enveloped him, his bees and his incarnations, causing them all to twist in the most odd way. Since that day Naraku had been different. Since that day he had been straying from his path to kick puppies, break children's toys and steal last coins from poor widows even if he had no use for gold. And the most horrific thing was that now he felt an urge to sing and couldn't stop. Then he sang about the terrible curse placed on Inuyasha (some of the guests made sure to put some more distance between themselves and the silver-haired hanyou) and how it was affecting everyone touched by him. When Miroku asked how he knew about it Naraku explained he had been spying on the gang.

"So as you see," Naraku shook himself when he finally started to talk again. "I can and will do whatever I want because this is my destiny!"

And with those words he took out from a pocket a nasty looking wand and waved it at Rin.

"When a day passes you will fall into a well and die!" without waiting for his spell to reach the girl Naraku turned around and stormed out of the room. He didn't manage to get out of it, as four sacred arrows, a sutra and a bunch of youki based attacks destroyed the vile being, leaving only stripes of pelt falling to the floor.

"Oh, Rin," everyone looked to where Sango knelt, holding the fainted girl in her arms. Kikyou flew to her side and touched the forehead of the girl.

"I can't break this curse," the miko said sadly. "Yet I can alter it."

"Do whatever you must to help Rin. This one is certain that the half-breed won't let his curse last for much longer so the vile half-breed won't cause more havoc in this one's lands," Sesshomaru stated, his words silent. The mere sound of his voice made everyone tremble.

An hour later Kagome found herself riding on Inuyasha's back, the gang quickly moving North. Not even the fastest of Inuyasha's animal admirers could keep up with him and flying Kirara now. Kikyou had used her spell to alter Naraku's curse as much as she could. According to her words the gang had a whole month to undo Inuyasha's curse and with it Rin's would be broken as well. For now the girl was sleeping and would remain slumbering until that day. Sesshomaru had made it clear for all his guests he wanted all the youkai of the West out of Inuyasha's way - both to prevent the curse from spreading and ensure that the hanyou wouldn't waste time on battling enemies.

Kagome was the only one who had not been shocked by all that happened. She was just glad that Kikyou managed to alter the curse, buying them more time. It was nice to know that no youkai would try to attack them on their way - but on the other hand Sesshomaru had made it known to the gang he was going to personally bury Kagome's well three weeks from now. So Kagome had practically dragged her friends out of the palace and had insisted on moving forward on their quest. No one had tried to argue, no one wanted to stay in close proximity with irate Sesshomaru. Camping in the woods an hour of two of running away from the daiyoukai seemed to be a better idea.

A/N: I'm sorry it's a little rusty.


	32. Coral and the Tanuki

A/N: You won't believe me, but I forgot about this story. There's like 5 chaps left of it, so I'll try to finish it soon so I don't have unfinished fics - I hate those.

* * *

 **Coral and the Tanuki**

* * *

The gang was moving fast. Only the low ranking youkai were sometimes trying to attack them and get their jewel shards. A few times Naraku's puppets tried to stop them or kidnap one or more of the gang members. Luckily the group was always able to defeat them easily. The birds were always singing them lullabies and more often than not after camping in the forests they'd wake up surrounded by animals. It seemed not only Inuyasha was in their favor, because Kagome, Sango and were attracting many squirrels and robins themselves.

Twice Naraku attacked them with his puppets, but rainbow Wind Scar and various attacks from the rest of the gang were always effective to defeat the vile hanyou. Once the spider hanyou sent after them Kagura - which ended pretty good for the wind sorceress. She seemed to be under the influence of the curse, because instead of attaching them by a surprise she came up to them with a long monologue and then waited patiently Sango's whole change sequence. She exchanged a few insults and attacks with the group, sending Miroku flying at a huge tree and causing Kagome to push Inuyasha out of the way of a nasty attack. Luckily Kagome was wearing Inuyasha's fire rat robe, so the pair was not heavily wounded. Still, it was up to Sango to defeat the enemy, with a little help from Kirara and Shippou.

Kagura didn't even more an eyebrow when the slayer pointed her weapon at her and shouted "Ultimate Glittering Friendship Blast of Hearts" and sent her attack her way. When it hit her Kagura threw her hands over her head and exclaimed "Refresh!", before she fainted. When she came to the wind sorceress appeared to be a totally different person - a sweet and caring lady, who despised violence. She approached Inuyasha and Kagome, apologizing for knocking them to the ground. She would also apologize for wounding Miroku, but was too scared that she had caused him so much pain, so she just fled. According to her words she went to find her true love and become his perfect wife and mother to his adoptive daughter.

But no one paid much attention to Kagura, because everyone was focused on Miroku. Sango was kneeling by his side, crying over the deep cuts in his flesh. She was trying to wrap them in bandages handed to her by Kagome, but the tanuki caught her hands in his paws.

"I am just grateful that the last thing I'll see will be your fair face, my beloved Sango," he said weakly. "For I love you with the truest, most deep love a man can hold for the lady of his heart. I am sorry for my wrongs and I hope you'll find true happiness."

"Damn you, monk, stop blabbering and just let her wrap you up!" exclaimed Inuyasha, clearly uneasy by the speech of his friend and the fact that he was still bleeding. A tanuki like him should be already healing. Kagome sobbed silently by his side, cuddling Shippou to her chest and Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her shoulder without realizing it. Still, Kagome was thankful for this gesture of comfort.

"No!" Sango cried and practically threw herself over Miroku's chest. "Don't say that! I don't know what I'm going to do without you! Please, don't die!"

"Alas, my love..." Miroku sighed and closed his eyes. "This is my fate, dying without knowing the sweet taste of reciprocated love. Farrell, my fair Sango, farewell, my good friends. I pray we meet in another life."

"You idiot!" bawled Shippou in Kagome's shoulder. "Why didn't you dodge!?"

Inuyasha muttered a curse and Kagome just moved closer to him, seeking his warmth. Sango cried in distress and leaned over the fallen monk to press a kiss to his parted lips.

"But I love you, you idiot of a monk!" she called with pained voice. Before anyone could do or say anything more a white light enveloped the pair. When it subsided Sango and Miroku were left on the ground, seemingly unchanged. It took the watchers a moment to realize what was different. Sango had her fighting suit on and lacked the decorative things. Miroku was human again, and a wound-free at this. And he was smiling widely at the staring trio, holding the weeping woman close to his chest with one hand. The other was slowly wandering down her back until it rested on her bottom.

"Ah, Sango, you broke the curse!" exclaimed Shippou at the same moment. The next second the slayer was fuming a few paces away and Miroku was nursing a red hand print on his cheek. Kagome didn't miss the smiles the pair had on their faces, even if Sango was trying to hide hers by burying her face in Kirara's fur.

"At least some things returned to normal," sighed Inuyasha, who didn't realize yet he was holding Kagome in his embrace. The smiling miko didn't voice any objections, just glad for her friends.

And that was when a swarm of birds brought two flower crowns to adorn the normal again couple.


	33. Beware The Red Wolf Kouga

**Beware The Red Wolf Kouga**

* * *

The gang was moving North. searching for the only thing that could undo the curse placed on Inuyasha and causing all wild and cute animals to follow him and throw plants at him. Since the day of Sango and Miroku becoming normal humans again - as much as they were normal - the pair was making sure to stay away from the hanyou, because one touch was all that would make the curse affect them. There were already enough people suffering the effects of the kitsune magic.

Still, Kagome couldn't really complain. From her point of view the curse was a blessing in a disguise. Inuyasha was more open about his feelings and his skills to communicate his thoughts improved greatly. he even had confessed he loved her. And he was a bit more willing to show his softer, affectionate side. That being told, he still could make her osuwari him or act like a jerk. Kagome guessed magic couldn't fix everything.

Actually, Kagome was one of the first people touched by Inuyasha, but so far she didn't see any big difference in herself. Oh, there were birds and bunnies bringing her flowers, but they were doing it to anyone in Inuyasha's group. At first she had thought, that she was the Prince Charming since Inuyasha was obviously the Princess, but so far she hadn't done any big saving. Well, it was hard to save a guy, who was known from being protective of her and prone to blast things with his sword. Kagome didn't really worry, she was sure her plot point was going to happen sooner or later.

She wasn't aware how 'sooner' it was going to be.

It started pretty innocently, with the gang staying in an inn for the night. It was a late afternoon of a pleasant day and it was a market day in the village, so it was no surprise that Kagome found herself studying a book alone under a tree behind the inn. Miroku, Sango and Shippou were probably shopping and Inuyasha was probably training with Kirara. Kagome knew the peace and quiet wouldn't last for long, so tried to do as much reading as she could.

That is, until a certain person dressed in a red kimono came to stand in front of her. Surprised, Kagome looked up to see a pair of pale blue eyes looking at her.

"Oh, hi," she said. "What's with the kimono? Red isn't your color."

"I always wear red, Kagome!" exclaimed Kouga and put his hands in his sleeves, obviously pretending to be Inuyasha. He even had a white wig on his head, but it was too short and Kagome could see the end of his ponytail from under it.

Kagome frowned, but then shrugged. Maybe he was colorblind, like dogs were. She knew they couldn't see all the colors like humans, but didn't know which exactly. She made a mental note to ask Inuyasha when he'll be in the talking mood.

"Okay..." she looked up at him. "So... What are you up to?"

"Come with me? For a walk," Kouga said, making odd faces at her. Kagome supposed he was trying to pretend to make Inuyasha's trademark scowl, but for some reason the wolf was doing it wrong and looked funny, not annoyed.

"Uh, sure," Kagome put her book aside and stood up to follow the wolf youkai to the forest. He was walking stiffly, not saying a word to her, for a couple of minutes. Kagome was walking beside him down a path leading to a stream, puzzled by his actions. He usually ran up to her, grabbed her hands and said some pick up lines before Inuyasha could jump between them.

"So, what's up?" Kagome asked when they finally reached the stream, Kouga glanced at her and then started to laugh like a maniac.

"Mwahahaha!" he exclaimed and in one fluid motion threw his wig away, meanwhile ripping his kimono off his body. Luckily it turned out he had his regular clothes under it. "I fooled you and I stole you from under the mutt's nose! You thought it was Inuyasha and it was me, Kouga, all the time!"

Kagome blinked. "Uh, not really, I knew it was you from the start. You did a poor job pretending to be Inuyasha."

Kouga paused for a moment to look at her, surprised that a mere human could see through his clever disguise.

"Well, doesn't matter!" the wolf youkai leader grabbed Kagome's shoulder. "Because I'm going to eat you now and no one will-"

"Eat me?" Kagome cut in, puzzled more than afraid of the threat. "I thought you wanted to marry me...?"

"Okay, be as you want, I'll marry you and then eat you!" Kouga grumbled, obviously not happy, but willing to find a common ground where the both parties can get what they want, as long as their goals don't conflict one another.

"Um..." Kagome was about to protest when Kouga pulled her towards the stream. "Kouga, I don't want to..."

"What's it this time? Hurry up, we have to find a priest to get married!" he exclaimed in annoyance.

The next second a fist came to contact with his nose. Kagome yelped when she was dragged to the ground with the falling youkai, but luckily for her he let go of her in favor of covering his bleeding nose.

"You jerk!" Kagome looked up and saw a red-haired girl in white furs glaring daggers at Kouga. "How dare you try to eat Kagome! And marry her against her will! And against your promise to me!"

"Oh, Ayame, so good to see you!" Kagome said happily, wondering what fairy tale character Ayame was. She didn't look any different from her usual obnoxious self.

"Hi, Kagome," Ayame spared a moment to look at the miko. "I'm glad I made it here in time to save you from Kouga."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Kagome was puzzled. Ayame sounded pretty normal - for herself. "Usually Inuyasha comes to save me."

"Nah, he won't come this time, he got himself captured by some bandits. I figured out he could take a while to free himself, so I went to stop Kouga from doing something stupid instead."

"What?!" Kagome jumped to her feet. "Where? How?"

"I saw them headed to the castle beyond the village," Ayame pointed a finger, her gaze never leaving Kouga, who was carefully examining his injury.

"Thanks!" Kagome ran away, not caring what was going to happen by the stream. She had a kidnapped hanyou prince to save. Again.

"Kagome, wait!" Kouga called and tried to get up and follow her, but Ayame pushed him to the ground with a foot.

"No, you don't go anywhere, big bad wolf. You're going to learn what's happening to misbehaving canine fiancees in this part of Japan," Ayame, the Red Wolf of the North, grinned wickedly.

A/N: Poking fun at Kouga is so easy I can do it all the time, despite not really hating the guy.  
Also - gasp! - Inuyasha's kidnapped (again)! What's going to happen now? (I have no idea too, cuz my draft ended around this chapter and I will have to make up the rest of the story as I go)


	34. Sorry, Your Hanyou Is In Another Castle

Sorry, Your Hanyou Is In Another Castle

Kagome ran to the village and saw Miroku and Sango running her way, Kirara and Shippou perched on their shoulders.

"Kagome!" they called her. To Kagome's terror Miroku was holding Tessaiga in his hands.

"They abducted Inuyasha!" Sango panted out when the miko and the rest of the gang finally met.

"Again," added Shippou and jumped to Kagome's shoulder, pointing in the direction of a nearby castle on top of a forest-covered hill. "They went in that direction!"

"Okay, let's save our princess!" Kagome rubbed her hands and the gang followed her to climb the hill and free the hanyou in distress.

.

Speaking of the hanyou in distress - Inuyasha woke up with a major headache, one caused by oversmelling something nasty, like ink or cheap perfume or Sango's stink pellets. Groggily he tried to look around, but saw only darkness. He was laying on something made of wood, probably a floor, wrapped tightly in wide lengths of fabric. He could only move his head, which was sticking out of the cocoon.

"Huh?" he blinked a few times, trying to see something in the dark. He wouldn't mind some light - not too much, so he wouldn't feel like his eyes were on fire, but just a little... He heard a small noise to his left and looked that way to see... Absolutely nothing. It was really troubling, usually there was at least a little light coming through cracks in wood or thin paper shoji to brighten the interior enough for him to see. He had a feeling the whole place was floating in the air, but he guessed it was because of his headache.

"Hey, ho, hey ho," smug some vaguely familiar voices from behind the walls of his prison. They sounded so care-free and smug for some reason. The whole place shook and the hanyou hit his head on the wall, succumbing to the darkness yet again.

.

Kagome and her friends stormed the palace, quite literally. The young miko, the monk and youkai exterminator practically ran through the gate, followed by surprised looks of the two guards standing there. No one tried to stop them when they approached the shoji and opened it.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, hoping to hear the hanyou answering her gruffly. But all she got were gasps of surprise of four people gathered around a simple meal - the village lord and his family. "Where's Inuyasha?"

"Who... Who's Inuyasha?" the lord, a short, fragile-looking middle-aged man asked, lowering his chopsticks.

"I can't sense his youki here," Miroku came up beside Kagome and bowed to the lord. As much as their leader miko was a hot-head inclined to turn over everything in the palace the monk knew it'd be better to first ask nicely.

It took a while, but finally Miroku managed to make the lord cooperate and let them search his home, just to make sure there was no ill-tempered, but benevolent youkai trapped there. To the gang's displeasure they found no trace of Inuyasha in the palace or within the walls encircling it.

They started asking in the village, but didn't learn anything new. Kagome turned her desperate eyes at her friends.

"Where is Inuyasha?" she asked, her lower lip trembling. The gang looked at her, worried and unsure where to look for their missing friend.

And just then a roe deer jumped in front of the miko and tugged at her sleeve.


	35. Mirror Castle

A/N: okay, so I finally got my plot together and the story should be completed soon. Thank you for being so patient with me and for reading every chapter of fairytale-ish craziness.

* * *

 **Mirror Castle**

* * *

"Wow," said Shippou from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. The whole group was standing on top of a small hill and looking at what was beyond him.

"That's something different," said Sango and turned her head away when the sun came out from behind the clouds, illuminating the whole thing.

And the thing practically exploded with light, because it was a small mountain of glass. Kagome barely could see the little hut on top of it. It was made of glass too, but this was a smoked glass, so it looked darker.

And it seemed that was where Inuyasha was being kept, because the roe deer looked at the hut and made a sound of distressed longing before nudging the miko forward with its nose.

"Yeah, we''re moving," she said and the gang followed her, covering their eyes every time the sun was peeking through the thick clouds in the sky. It was good it wasn't a sunny day, because it was hard to even look in the mountain's direction in the sunlight and when they neared it they could also feel the warmth radiating from it.

Idly, Kagome wondered if the mountain could set something on fire. Like the whole forest she could see behind it.

"Hey-ho, hey-ho!" they heard a brash voice uttering the words like they wee something you'd say to set the pace for a group of people.

"Huh?" Miroku tilted his head at the voice, it sounded vaguely familiar. The mystery of the voice was solved the next minute when a group of seven wharves ran briskly from behind the thick bushes surrounding the mountain. "Company, stop!"

The dwarf on the front lifted a hand and his companions stopped behind him. "Uh..." said Kagome when she saw the animals fleeing, they served their purpose and left.

"We're the Band of Seven!" exclaimed the dwarf with a braid.

"And our names are Biggy, Misty, Baldy, Shaggy, Mechy, Bishy and Medic," piped in the dwarf resembling a certain Jakotsu from behind the leader.

"Shut up, Jakotsu, I'm not Biggy!" complained Kyokotsu, who even as a dwarf was dwarfing the other members of his group.

"Sorry, but I called dibs on Bishy," replied Jakotsu happily. Bankotsu glared at them both to make them silent and then looked back at the stunned group of protagonists.

"We're the guardians of Kanna's Mirror Castle," Bankotsu explained to them. "We make sure that the captive of Naraku, oh, cruel and vile he is, don't flee and that no one can save him from his terrible, terrible fate. Fight us if you dare, but be warned, no human nor youkai can scale the mountain, especially not with us guarding it."

Kagome looked at the glass hut where Inuyasha was being kept. and sighed. There was only one solution.

"We're outnumbered," worried Miroku behind her back.

"And I'm sure they didn't lose their skills with their height," added Sango. Kagome turned to them and smiled radiantly before uttering the words.

"Sango, can I borrow Kirara?"

A minute later she could heard shouts of outrage when the great feline was effortlessly gaining height.

When Kirara landed in front of the hut they found Kanna sitting on a small bench by the door. Kagome felt a chill run down her spine when she realized that she should have taken her friends with her. The incarnation looked at her passively and gestured to the door with a curtain of glass beads hanging in the door frame.

"You who enter shall wear glass slippers," she stated motionlessly.

"Uh... You won't try to stop me?" asked Kagome. Kanna shrugged.

"I am not your opponent today, miko," she replied. "If you dare - go inside. In the hut you'll find what you seek for. Times millions."

When Kagome dismounted Kirara and took a few steps forward a sparkling dust rose from the ground and encased her shoes, covering them in small glass pieces. Kagome almost fell to her face when the dust formed a pair of sturdy glass heels, making her at least an inch taller.

As soon as she steadied herself she walked behind the glass curtain with all the determination she could muster.


	36. Times Millions

A/N: Bonus points and my respect if you can recognize the fairy tales I used in this chap and in the previous one.

* * *

 **Times Millions**

* * *

The light filling the hut wasn't hurting her eyes or blinding her, despite the hut being made of glass and reflecting the sunlight in all directions. Kagome took a few steps forward and stopped, looking around in wonder.

The whole place most definitely wasn't a normal little hut. It was a huge place with multiple levels, staircases cross-crossing and bending and columns supporting the intricate structure. And it all was covered in mirrors, some making her reflection thinner or wider, some plain, some making her look deformed or fuzzy. Even the floor of the whole place, located a few meters below the level of the door, had mirrors on it. In the center of the room grew an apple tree with golden apples and - of course - small mirrors hanging from its branches. Suspecting Inuyasha could sit in the tree and eat some fruit she first went to the apple tree. To her surprise the hanyou wasn't there. Mechanically Kagome picked an apple and put it in her skirt pocket, it looked and felt normal, despite the color.

"Inuyasha!" she exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"Kagome!" to her horror in a flash of rainbow light all the visions of her person changed into Inuyasha's reflections. Thousands upon thousands of Inuyashas were looking at her with his golden eyes, some scowling, some smiling, She saw a mirror where his cute dog ears were twice the size of his body which shrank to Shippou's height. Kagome giggled. "Oi, wench! What's so funny?"

"Sorry, Inuyasha," she schooled her face to more serious and looked around again. "So... I have to find the real you, right?"

"Yeah. Every mirror's a portal to a little dimension, so don't get jumping into them. If you find the right one you'll see the dungeon I'm trying to l- Fuck!"

The reflections didn't move, but she heard a body hitting something and tumbling down while making pained noises and cursing.

"Inuyasha?!" she frantically looked around in an attempt to find him.

"I'm fine," he almost whined like a beaten dog. "You have the damned shoes too?"

"Uh... Shoes?" Kagome looked at her feet and the glass high heels. "Wait a minute, you're wearing glass high heels too?"

"Be careful!" the hanyou growled. "The stairs are slippery like shit, so if there aren't any railings you can hold onto you have to crawl on your hands and knees. Believe me, you don't want to fall from any stairs."

Kagome smiled, warmed at the worry and concern in his voice. Then she thought how many times he had to fall himself and her smile faded. Inuyasha wasn't exactly a shoe person, not even mentioning high heels. Climbing a staircase in normal footwear could prove to be challenging for him.

"I'll be careful, but you have to be too," she promised.

"Keh, just hurry and find the real me," was all she heard as a reply. The sound of his voice was no indication where he could be, it was coming from all directions. Kagome frowned, remembering he had told her was in a dungeon and her sight dropped to the mirrors on the floor. Multiple Inuyashas were looking up at her and suddenly she realized she was wearing a skirt.

"Eep!"

"What? What happened? Are you okay?" came his frantic voice, followed by some cursing. This made the girl, who had jumped back almost to the curtain, relax a bit, it seemed the real Inuyasha couldn't sneak a peek at her underwear. Then she remembered he had had no idea about her glass shoes earlier, so he probably couldn't see her at all.

"I'm fine," she said soothingly and then started to wander around between various images of her favorite hanyou. All of them looked pretty real to her, even the images with odd proportions she didn't want to rule out. She had this suspicion Inuyasha could be hidden behind an image that looked the most bizarre.

"Oi, wench?" asked Inuyasha's voice from above her when she was walking around a column, She knew she should be at least a bit anxious, walking between so many images of her friend she wanted to find so dearly, knowing each was a portal to who knows where. But she couldn't deny it, the sight of Inuyasha's familiar face was calming and the whole place looked like something out of a dream.

"Yes?" she instinctively turned to face the nearest Inuyasha, this one having normal body proportions and looking at her with a mild scowl.

"How did you manage to get pass the Band of Seven?"

"Uh, I borrowed Kirara from Sango and flew up the mountain," Kagome explained and heard him chuckle.

"Smart girl."

"I wish I was," she sighed. "I could solve the puzzle of which mirror is the right one. I wish I had a clue..."

And just as she said this a ray of pink light came from the ceiling, illuminating the whole room with soft radiance. To Kagome's surprise she could see a figure in the light, one with pretty butterfly wings.

"K-Kikyou?" she uttered.

"What's happening up there?" asked Inuyasha anxiously.

"I came to grant your wish," spoke the miko godmother with a soft smile. "You always were good to me, despite the fact I wasn't kind to you or Inuyasha for that matter. So, as a thank you gift..." the miko waved a hand. "I shall lend you my helpers. May they guide you, my pure-heated future self."

Three soul collectors came out from the pink light and flew around Kagome as if greeting her. The stunned miko thanked her per-incarnation who just smiled and disappeared with her light.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called. "Tell me what's going on!"

"Find him, please," Kagome said to the soul gatherers who immediately flew up and started circling the room. In a matter of seconds all three started making circled over a mirror hanging low on a wall of the huge room. "I'm coming, Inuyasha, just stay put!"

Carefully Kagome made her way to the mirror the youkai had located. She wasted a moment to look at the image inside - Inuyasha standing with his hands in his sleeves. Then she reached out and touched his chest, hoping the youkai had the right one.

The vision shattered in darkness, bu it wasn't the darkness of the void. It was the darkness of a stone corridor which ended in a well of a staircase. Kagome muttered her thanks to the soul collectors and bravely stepped in the shadows, one hand on the cool stone, her feet finding the way. She prayed for the gift of the miko godmother to reunite her with the love of her life.

Judging by the noises down the stairs it wouldn't take long.


	37. Schrodinger's Fox

**Schrodinger's Fox**

* * *

Kagome found Inuyasha on the bottom of the staircase a few floors below the mirror chamber. He was sitting on the first step, glaring at his feet. Or, to be precise, at his glass high heels. Kagome giggled when she saw him pouting at his footwear, but her amusement died down when she noticed how many bruises were on his body and realized the poor hanyou had more than one fall down the stairs behind him. Without thinking she reached into her pocket and pulled out of it a golden apple. As soon as Inuyasha noticed the food he looked at her with hope.

"Here," she put the apple in his hand, realizing he probably was kept here without any food. Inuyasha practically swallowed the whole thing in one bite and then, to their surprise, all his bruises glowed golden and disappeared. Inuyasha didn't even comment this, he just shrugged and stood up.

With Kagome's guidance and encouragement the hanyou managed to climb up the stairs without falling down and then they walked through the mirror room and out of the hut on top of the glass mountain. Kanna looked at them, not surprised.

"I told him it wouldn't work," she said and simply walked inside the hut. As soon as Kagome and Inuyasha climbed on the back of waiting Kirara their shoes disappeared, as did the hut itself. The trio left the mountain top to find their friends. As soon as Inuyasha touched the huge feline a white light appeared around Kirara and transformed her shape, giving her a pair of feathery wings, that didn't do anything to slow her down as she flew. Kagome gasped at the change, realizing it was the first time Inuyasha touched Kirara since becoming cursed.

As they flew Kagome let herself relax a bit, enjoying the presence of her beloved hanyou. Even his grumbling at the terrible torture of wearing high heels was pleasant. Alas, it came to an end when Kirara landed near the place where Kagome had left the rest of the gang.

Miroku and Sango were sitting under a tree, along with Shippou and the whole Band of Seven. Their weapons were laying behind them, their hands occupied with tiny papers which Kagome recognized as her playing cards.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha inquired, staring at them all. Miroku looked up from his cards.

"Well, we tried to fight, but then we decided to play War."

"Yeah, this way we can all battle." Bankotsu added. "It's pretty fun."

"Fighting was pointless, since you were already beyond our reach," added Renkotsu, the dwarf of rough logic.

"Okay, that's cool, but we must go now," Kagome said, smiling apologetically. After a round of disappointed groans she managed to wrestle her playing cards from everyone and put them away. And soon after that the gang resumed their journey towards their destination and - hopefully - the end of Inuyasha's curse.  
It took a couple of days, but finally they reached their destination - a mountainside forest where a small shrine stood. In the shrine was a huge black cauldron covered with an iron lid with a figure of a five-tailed fox sitting on it. It was wrapped in a net of ropes and adorned with bells and slips of colorful paper. It became quickly apparent there was no one guarding the place, so the gang could spend time there unbothered. It was pretty odd for them to find such a place and an artifact unprotected, but they didn't question that.

They made a camp near the shrine and spent a night there, unbothered by anything. Everyone was excited that their quest was almost over and Kagome felt happy for Inuyasha. She could easily see how tired of his curse he was. And Rin would wake up from her slumber.

It was dawn when Kagome woke to find Inuyasha sitting next to her and glaring daggers at something behind her her. He had taken to sleeping beside her or taking her up to tree limbs at night, so seeing him like this wasn't new to her. But his expression puzzled her, he looked angry. It was his youki spiking in annoyance that woke her up.

"What's wrong?" she asked and rubbed the sleep off her eyes.

"I believe your canine companion is not pleased to have my company at your camp, lady miko," said a pleasant male voice.

"Of course it is! No one invited you!" Inuyasha growled while Kagome sat up and looked at the stranger who was sitting by the fire, between them and their sleeping companions.

It was a man in early thirties, his long hair the color of flames and unruly like Inuyasha's. His brown kimono had sleeves cuffed at his wrists and bore a pattern of red and yellow maple leaves. His ears were pointed, eyes green and as Kagome was watching tails started to fan out behind his back, as if he wanted to make her see and count them.

The man had five fox tails. And judging by Inuyasha's growling he wasn't a kitsune. He was the kitsune, the one who had cursed him.

"I'm terribly sorry, Inuyasha," the kitsune didn't sound very convincing. "But I couldn't simply wait for you all to wake up."

When he spoke a couple of tiny balls of pink cotton appeared in the air above the still sleeping members of the gang and started to tickle their noses. Shippou was the first to sneeze awake, soon followed by Miroku and Sango. The older kitsune waited for them all to sit up and look his way.

"My name is Yobi and I am the guardian of the Kitsune Cauldron," the five-tail introduced himself, surprising everyone and even causing Inuyasha to cease his growling.

"Will you let us use the Cauldron to revert the curse?" asked Miroku.

"Or should we beat you up first?" added Inuyasha and winced when Kagome's elbow hit his side. "What, wench?"

"Be nice!"

"I am!"

Yobi shook his head with an amused smile.

"There is no need for violence. I will gladly remove the spell from you."

"But? There must be a but," Inuyasha looked at the kitsune suspiciously.

"Yes, I am afraid I will require your assistance before I undo the spell," the five-tail nodded.

"So, was it all a trick to make us go all the way here and do something for you?" Sango reached for her belt where she had some of her less impressive, but effective gear. That wouldn't sit well with her.

"No, exterminator. I was on my way to your village to ask for your aid, but you came to me when I was... A bit distracted during my journey," Yobi gave her a sheepish smile, not unlike Shippou's when the boy was caught doing something naughty. "I got a bit angry at your inu companion and decided to take this route."

"So it was only Inuyasha's fault he got cursed?" Shippou shook his head when Yobi confirmed it with a nod. "Go figure." Inuyasha growled again, but Shippou knew he was way out of a whacking range.

"So, you just want help, right? And you didn't mean us any harm?  
asked Miroku.

"Of course. I am a benevolent spirit, tasked by Inari-sama to guard the Cauldron," Yobi nodded. "I might be a tad mischievous at times..."

"You flooded the stables!" Inuyasha pointed out gruffly. "And dug holes in rice fields, not mentioning all the smaller things!"

"As I said, I can get a bit carried away," Yobi gave him an apologetic smile and to Kagome's pleased surprise it was enough to placate the hanyou, at least for now.

"So, what are we supposed to do to make you undo the curse?" she asked the five-tail. He smiled at her and gestured towards the shrine.

"Free me."

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes after he spoke, finally Miroku cleared his throat.

"Free you? You don't look restrained in any way," he pushed his blanket away and sat with his legs crossed, fully facing the five-tail and trying to see how he could be bound.

"You see, good monk," Sango snorted at that. but the fox didn't even look her way. "As we established already I'm prone to being a prankster, as we all kitsune are."

Shippou nodded sagely and earned a smile from his kin.

"I often play some tricks on the travelers and pilgrims who visit this forest. A few months ago a monk was traveling down the road through my domain..."

"Let me guess, you pissed him off with a prank?" Inuyasha cut in when Yobi sighed.

"To put it bluntly, yes. He got angry enough that he decided to put the end to my naughtiness. He sealed me in the Cauldron."

"And yet, somehow, you;re free?" Sango inquired.

"Actually, no. In the last moment I manged to cast a spell that makes me be both here and inside the Cauldron, at the same time being in neither," the fox explained. Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha looked stunned, Shippou intrigued. Kagome gave a small nod.

"Like a Schrodinger's cat," she muttered and when everyone looked her way she elaborated.. "You put a cat in a box. And when it's in the box it can be both dead or alive. But you don't know, unless you open the box, So it's kinda dead and alive at the same time. Something like this."

Yobi shrugged when they look for him for confirmation.

"Anyway, I went to look for the only thing that can cut the ropes and free me from my prison and it is the most esteemed Fang of Destruction."

Inuyasha touched Tessaiga's hilt at that, but Kagome could see he wasn't about to draw the katana and do anything reckless.

"On my way to your village I got a bit bored and went to spend some time in a village not too far away. I caused a tiny chaos..." Sango gave the five-tail a sour look. "Alright, a medium-sized chaos with a cherry of havoc on top. The villagers got a tad upset and summoned your group. I was going to ask for your aid, but... Let's say, I'm not the only one who gets carried away."

"Keh!"

"The rest you know," Yobi finished his tale. "So, now I need you to use the great Fang and free me from the Cauldron, so I can tend to my shrine.

"And trick people again," added Sango.

"This too," Yobi smiled shamelessly, again reminding everyone about Shippou, who was looking at him with awe in his wide eyes. "All you have to do it to slash at the ropes, not harming the Cauldron itself."

Kagome tuned to look at Inuyasha. He didn't look too pleased with the idea of setting free a good, but highly mischievous kitsune of great strength, but it probably was their only option. This, or having roe deers prancing around them for the rest of eternity.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to answer...

A/N: And then a Cliffhanger attacked!  
Yay, one or two more chapters to go!


	38. Aaargh!

**Aaargh!**

* * *

As soon as Inuyasha opened his mouth to answer the five-tail, the ground under their feet shook. Birds in the surrounding forest ceased their singing and all the bunnies and roe deers grazing around the camp now ran away. Everyone threw their blankets away and reached for their weapons when a gust of purple smoke and green lights surrounded the area.

"Kukuku!" Kagome heard the familiar - and despised - cackling from the smoke and soon after a figure cloaked by a baboon pelt, hiding his face behind a mask, emerged from the cloud.

"Naraku!" exclaimed Inuyasha and stood protectively before Kagome. Sango threw her boomerang at the vile hanyou, but it was caught by a swarm of ravens and fell to the ground a few meters to Naraku's left. Yobi looked at the newcomer in surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Glad that you ask," Naraku said and a few of his bees brought him a staff of twisted tree with his shard of the jewel on top of it. Naraku threw his mask and stripped out of his pelt in a dramatic way before he grasped his staff and...

...Started to sing.

Kagome stared at the evil hanyou who was explaining to everyone who could hear his low baritone, that he was a powerful youkai, who was going to kill them all in a painful way, getting his revenge on Inuyasha, who he blamed for his singing state. At some point Kanna and Byakuya appeared behind him, the girl was simply standing there, but Byakuya was pretty enthusiastically fulfilling the chorus part, singing along with Naraku and making dramatic poses. Halfway through the song, as Naraku was singing about crushing his enemies and impaling them on his tentacles, he morphed to appear like a huge creature, a hybrid of a spider with tentacles growing from the area around its head When he finally got silent, the gang was still staring at him open-mouthed and stunned.

Yobi clapped his hands. "It was a very nice singing here," he praised. Naraku glared at him and shot a tentacle straight through the kitsune's chest. Yobi didn't look any bit fazed. "I'm not here."

"You!" Inuyasha growled at Naraku. Yobi stepped a few paces back to slide off the tentacle, his body and clothing appeared not damaged."I'm your enemy!"

"That's true," Naraku looked at the inu hanyou and shot another tentacle. Kagome called Inuyasha's name in fear, but Inuyasha easily side-stepped it.

And walked straight in the path of another one, which wrapped itself around him, pressing his hands against his torso.

"Let me go, you asshole!" Naraku shook the screaming Inuyasha and pulled him closer, so his friends couldn't free him.

"Kukuku! Now you're powerless and at my mercy!" he said and looked at the gang, who looked like they wanted to attack him any minute they saw an opening. He squeezed Inuyasha, who screamed in pain. Sango grit her teeth, Miroku gripped his staff harder and Kagome paled, worry and concern on her face."Give me..."

"You will have to let the hanyou go, if they guess your real name," said Yobi calmly, it was a statement, not a question.

"What?" asked Naraku. The gang turned inquiring looks at the kitsune and even Inuyasha, for now not being crushed, looked his way.

"You see, you stole a princess' child," Yobi pointed to the inu hanyou. "So if they guess your first name you have to give the child back."

"Oi! I ain't no child!"

"Oh, okay, deal, but if they don't get it right they have to give me their jewel shards!" Naraku exclaimed and waved the captive in the air, "Don't try any tricks on me!"

Kagome was speechless for a minute.

"Your first name was Onigumo," Miroku said, seizing the opportunity.

Everyone froze for a minute before...

"Dang it! How did you know!?" Naraku threw Inuyasha on the ground angrily and pointed a finger at the monk. "Curse you!"

"You already did," Miroku raised his right hand.

"Then curse you double! My plan was brilliant - to catch you all and crush you to pieces before claiming the jewel for myself! It was going so well, until you... I will have my revenge!"

Kagome wasn't able to do more than stare at the irate villain and Inuyasha climbing to his knees and hands on the ground between them. And then, after grumbling after teenagers and their inu hanyou destroying all his plans, Naraku disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. Byakuya remained for a while longer, looking at the spot vacated by Naraku, before he departed on his paper swan. Kanna just shook her head.

"I told him from the very start this wouldn't work, but did he listen to me? No..." And with that the incarnation turned on her heels and walked in the forest.

"Okay, what happened?" Shippou asked after a minute. Inuyasha finally managed to sit on his heels and Kagome ran to make sure he was fine.

"You guessed his name correctly, so he had to free the child of the princess he stole fro you," Yobi said as if nothing really odd happened.

"But... Without a fight?" Sango picked up her boomerang.

"I must confess, I hoped he'd turn in a huge dragon and you'd have to fight him and plunge a sword in his heart, but it worked," Yobi shrugged.

"I swear I'm going to skin you and give your pelt to Sesshomaru to be his a futon covering!" Inuyasha growled at the kitsune.

"You're free and no one got seriously hurt," the five-tail pointed out. "You know, you could've done it yourself, but you obviously can't turn your curse in a blessing. Look at Miroku, he's using his curse as a weapon" he shook his head. "Well, no matter. Will you free me now, please?"

"Why should I, you twisted brain?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome grabbed his shoulder.

"If you wish to gift my fur to your brother you have to free me first," Yobi gave him a playful smile. "But I guess you're all bark and no bite..."

.

Kanna was walking down a narrow forest path, looking in her mirror, when suddenly a mighty roar shook the air and the forest itself, before the ground trembled under her bare feet.

"Wind Scar!"


	39. Epilogue

A/N; I don't do it as often as I should, but let me tell you how much I appreciate that you read, reviews and leave favs under my stories. I'm practically floating above my chair every time I read that my stories made one of you smile. Thank you all for your kindness and for sticking around to see how this story, which had been a short one shot at first, unfolded. It was fun toying with fairy tale motives and writing this random thing.  
Alas, everything has to end. But don't be sad, I have many other stories to tell you, so stay tuned.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

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Kagome looked at the forest looking like something from a fairy tale. Birds were singing in the green leaves, flying and jumping happily. Bunnies and other wild creatures were busy with their wild life, pausing only to make sure she didn't want to eat them.

She took a deep breath of fresh air and put her huge backpack on her shoulder, ready to leave the well and follow the path leading to Kaede's village.

The Wind Scar that Inuyasha had unleashed that fateful day had been a thing to behold, shining with all colors of rainbow and glimmering with sparks.

It had done nothing to Yobi, but practically destroyed the whole shrine and had tore the ropes binding the Cauldron. As soon as the seals had been removed Yobi had clapped his hands, had bowed and had disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, only to reappear a moment later as the five-tailed fox sticking its head from under the lid of the Cauldron.

He had thanked them and had sent them home through a magic portal.

Some things had changed after that, some were the same.

"Oi, wench," a pair of strong arms wrapped around Kagome's waist and a cool nose nuzzled her cheek as she practically ran over the hanyou she cherished.

"Hi there, Inuyasha," Kagome smiled and leaned closer to him to nuzzle his cheek in return. "How is everyone?"

Her stay home was five days long and she was pleased that on the other side of the well, which wasn't a wishing one anymore, everyone was back to normal.

Inuyasha stripped her of her backpack to sling it over his shoulder, then took her hand and started to lead her down the path. After the incident in the wishing well their communication improved - they still had quarrels, but were more inclined to reveal their feelings and thoughts, so there was less room for misunderstandings. Their relationship was growing stronger with each day.

"Miroku got himself tied up by Sango again because he tried to peek at bathing village girls," Inuyasha reported. "She put him in the new shed Kaede has behind her hut."

"I see," Kagome nodded. Kaede's hut was a normal building again, but was standing in a bit different location, one closer to the river, so the miko didn't have to walk so far if she wanted to reach the riverbank. The spawn of the hut was now as immobile as it should be, After the first shock the villagers were pretty fond of the new additions they didn't have to build. "Where's Shippou?"

"Training," Inuyasha pouted. Kagome giggled - to Inuyasha's annoyance Shippou was often visiting his new five-tailed friend and advancing in the pranking art. But the kit was also teaching Yobi that some of his pranks were a bit overboard. Inuyasha didn't like Shippou learning new tricks because he was usually the target for the kit. "He'll be back at the evening, since I told him we're leaving the village tomorrow morning."

"That's okay." Their quest for the jewel shards wasn't finished yet. "Any rumors about Naraku?"

"No, but we have a rumor about a shard in the East," Inuyasha shook his head. "Kikyou visited yesterday."

Kagome smiled. There was no pang of jealousy in her heart, no sadness, no worry. She knew the undead miko wasn't her rival and that, even while caring for her and wanting to protect her, Inuyasha didn't plan on going to Hell with her. Besides, Kagome doubted Kikyou'd go to Hell after finishing her quest in the world of the living. After all she had suffered she should go straight to the Heaven.

"Ginta was here the day before," Inuyasha continued. "We're all invited to a mating ceremony."

"A mating ceremony?" Kagome blinked up at him and he shrugged.

"Ayame finally got Kouga cornered and, according to Ginta's words, he finally admitted he wants to mate her. So they're going to mate and we all are supposed to be at the feast."

Kagome giggled at the vision of Ayame carrying Kouga to the altar to exchange vows and performing the sake drinking ritual before dragging him to their bedchamber.

They cleared the forest and were nearing the place where some villagers were building the hut for Miroku and Sango when suddenly Kagome felt a familiar youki and looked up.

"Hm," Lord Sesshomaru landed Ah-Un and slid off the dragon's back. Inuyasha tensed and pulled Kagome closer, but didn't assume a battle stance yet. "Little brother, miko."

"What do you want?" Inuyasha growled warily.

"This one, as the custom orders, came to request your presence at his mating ceremony," he stated calmly. "And since this Sesshomaru is aware of your affinity with humans, especially the miko you're currently holding, this one assumed you will be bringing her with you."

Kagome gaped at the daiyoukai, but she noticed that Inuyasha was even more stunned, if it was possible.

"You..." Inuyasha stumbled for words. "Who would want to mate you?"

"Quite a few desired the title of the Lady of the West," Sesshomaru answered. "But this one chose the mot fitting youkai, one who has great power and will bear this one strong pups, worthy of our bloodline."

"Congratulations," Kagome smiled after swallowing her shock. "I'm glad you'll have a mate and Rin a mom."

"This one is plenty pleased as well," Sesshomaru nodded. "Little brother, it is your duty to attend. Try to defile this one's request and you shall face the consequences. The ceremony will be held the next full moon."

Inuyasha was too stunned to even throw an insult after his departing brother. It took Kagome a few nudges to his side to bring him to reality. He looked at her, his eyes wide.

"Come on, Inuyasha, let's go tell the others. We have two weddings to attend to. Do you think we can align our shard hunt route to fit the calendar? Should I get a new kimono?" Kagome inquired. Somehow, going to a wedding in a school uniform didn't seem right. "I'll have to go home to bring a yukata from my time later... And you have to get a new outfit for your brother's mating, you can't go in your old one."

"...Keh."

And as Inuyasha gripped her hand a bit tighter, walking beside her, Kagome wondered, not for the first time, if the curse of the five-tailed kitsune was a curse at all.


End file.
